Not What it Seems
by ali1122
Summary: Bella has a dark secret she had never shared with anyone, a secret which has changed her life completely and not for the better. When Edward and his friends decide to have a little fun, with Bella as the target, will Bella fall even more than she has...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 1

EPOV

"Emmett, grow up!" Edward shouted as Emmett threw yet another volleyball directly at his head during practice. It had become a daily routine for him to find some new way to annoy the crap out of him and of course, because he appeared to be successful, he continued his immature persuit.

"I think I'm fine, don't worry about me Eddie boy," he retorted, hating anytime someone referred to him as a child. Though everyone could see the amusement he gained from messing with his friends,even worse when the torture was put on others.

"Oww!" a new voice shouted. Emmett's aim had no been directed towards Jasper, his next favorite target apart from Edward. "Emmett, knock it off!" He spat as he angrily approached him, ready to fight. To those who did not know the three best friends well enough, this simple action was enough to scare everyone off, unaware of what they were capable of. For those that knew them well, such as Alice Cullen and Rosalie Hale, girlfriends of Jasper Hale and Emmett Cullen respectively, they knew what was happening before their eyes was typical behavior for them. Alice and Rosalie sat in the bleachers and watched as their boyfriends distracted themselves from volleyball practice and approached each other, ready to fight.

"Don't be such a baby Jasper," Emmett scolded. He was simply trying to joke around with his friends, who clearly did not have the same sense of humor as Emmett. There were very few things the boys shared in common when it came what they found amusing...getting hit during practice was not one of them. "It's not like it hurt!" he added.

"Oh really?" Jasper was now standing directly in front of Emmett, though despite how tough he could be, Emmett came closer to towering him as he was over 6 feet tall. "You try having beast like you put his full force behind a ball being thrown directly at your head...it's not a love tap Emmett, want me to show you?"" Jasper challenged Emmett but before the two could duke it out, the couch had blown is whistle and ordered the two to change teams. Their couch would not tolerate such behavior during practice. As Emmett stomped off to the other court, Edward laughed under his breath only to receive a glare from Emmett.

"Watch it Eddie" he said as he stalked passed him.

After practice, Edward, Jasper and Emmett were waiting for Rosalie and Alice by their cars. When they arrived, they stayed where they were, going over the amusements of practice and the plans for the weekend. Edward, however, stared off into the distance as the rest of the students who happened to stay after school left and made their way to their cars. Not everyone had car of course, only seniors were allowed to receive permits to drive their cars. He watched as she walked out of the building with her hoodie pulled up on her head, hiding her face. He noticed her hoodie was too large for her and did understand why she would wear it; he thought of her as strange. Always keeping to herself, didn't talk to many people. Emmett noticed Edwards detachment from the group and glanced to where he was looking.

"Edward, what are staring at?" he asked, unsure of what he was no looking at. He saw her too but was not sure if she was the distraction or not.

"Nothing.." he said, obviously lying.

"You're staring at that Bella girl, aren't you?" The name was enough to get the rest of the groups' attention. Everyone knew who she was...and how unpopular she was.

"Eww don't waste your time Edward, you're so much better than that loser!" Rosalie chimed in.

"Yea Edward, she's not popular like us...she's not even social and she dresses horribly! It's wierd," Alice added, complaining. Alice always stuck her nose into both of her brothers' business. Nothing Edward or Emmett did went by unnoticed by her and most of the time, they took her advice. Alice was the reason Emmett had met Rosalie; she was introduced to her through Jasper who happened to be her twin brother.

"You should listen to Alice," Rosalie confirmed. The group looked down on anyone who didn't fit in with their group. Everyone wanted to be accepted by this group; most people even tried to do favors for them if they ever needed. Rosalie was the one who took guys up on the offer, only to leave them disappointed when they would see her with Emmett.

"I don't know what you two are going on about, no one said anything about having an interest in that Swan girl," Edward dismissed. He honestly never thought twice about Isabella Swan. Despite knowing her their entire lives and having the same classes together since kindergarden, he was puzzled by the behavior she began putting out a few years back. Somewhere along the way she had changed and to this day, he could not understand why she closed herself off from everyone else. Before, from how he remembered her, she was happy. While the rain never pleased her, she still came to school with a smile on her face and greeted everyone. She wasn't popular but she was not considered an outsider either. She was alive. This girl he was seeing before him had changed. Something was different inside of her and it was not just the way she dressed. She looked empty; as though all the life had been taken from her and all that was left was a walking corpse.

"Then why are you staring at her Eddie..?" Emmett teased, taking enjoyment in finding a new way to torture Edward.

"I'm not." He dismissed and looked down at the ground.

"No, you are...new crush of the month?" Emmett continued.

"Of the month? I thought he was with Tanya?" Alice asked as she crossed her arms, confused and clearly annoyed that she wasn't informed.

"You didn't hear?" Emmett laughed and glanced at the little pixie. "She dumped him."

"She did not dump me!" Edward growled.

"Then what was it Edward...?" Alice asked, annoyed.

"We just..." he paused. "went our seperate ways."

"In other words, she dumped you." Rosalie said matter of factly.

"Can you just drop it?" He shouted, loud enough for the few others in the lot to look in his direction. He noticed Bella Swan react to his sudden outburst, differently than most. She hadn't turned her head curiously in the direction of the noise like everyone else. She simply stopped in her tracks for a moment, as though scared instead of surprised. She put her arms to her chest, as though holding herself together. After a moment, she continued walking to her truck, got in and just sat there, stalling her departure.

"You're just upset you'll never find someone like Tanya again, you're hopeless." Rosalie said as she checked her reflection in her hand held mirror she took out of her purse.

"I'm not hopeless Rosalie, I can find someone like that," he said as he snapped his fingers, implying he could have any girl he wanted, no problem. "So I am not upset Tanya and I are over, rest assured."

"You're really that sure Eddie?" Emmett clasped his hands together, an idea developing in his mind. "You really think you can get any girl to go out with you?" Edward stared at him for a moment before he set his jaw, finalizing his thoughts.

"Yes. I am." He said without a doubt.

"How sure are you Edward?" Jasper asked, glancing at Emmett and realizing where he was going with this. "So sure you're willing to bet on it?" Edward raised his eye brow, not sure what he was going to do next.

"Yes, I am that sure."

"Oh boy, here we go" Rosalie rolled her eyes. She knew Emmett and his games.

"Ok, so let's make a bet on that...are you up for it?" Emmett asked.

"What's the bet and what are the terms?" Edward said through his teeth. Emmett smirked in response.

"We pick the girl...no matter who she is and you have to get her to date you and fall in love with you," Emmett said.

"When's the deadline?" Edward asked, obviously this was a bet he did not want to participate in; toying with someone's emotions was something he hated, especially since that was what had just happened to him. However, knowing Jasper and Emmett, he had no choice. Emmett and Jasper both looked at each other before Jasper responded.

"Prom." he said.

"What, am I supposed to turn this girl into prom queen too?" Edward asked sarcastically.

"Why not.." Emmett said.

"It was a joke." Edward responded, clearly frustrated.

"If that's where the road takes you, then by all means do it. But the bet is to make this girl fall in love with you by prom, so you have a month and a half my friend," Emmett said as he stepped closer to Edward. The girls were standing off whispering to themselves; mainly about how stupid the bet idea was while Rosalie thought Edward could not do it. "If she doesn't fall in love with you by prom, I'm going to enjoy driving around your car for the summer Eddie, while you take the bus."

"And if I do get her to fall in love with me?" Edward asked, sure this would be a no brainer. Every girl in school wanted him, all but one. Bella Swan. But they couldn't possibly make her be the object of the bet, could they?

"If you win, I stop messing with you and I'm your slave for the whole summer," Emmett told him. While Edward was so sure he could win, Emmett had his own tricks up his sleeve. The girl he had in mind...would never fall for Edward let alone give him the time of day.

"It's a deal." Edward said, reaching out his hand for Emmett to shake.

"Edward, are you really sure you can win this bet. Be rational here...a month and a half? These things take time..." Alice added, trying to save her brother while she still had the chance.

"Oh I'm sure," and they shook hands, making the deal binding. "So who's the lucky girl?" Emmett smirked. This was the moment he had been waiting for...

"Isabella Swan." He said. Edward's mouth nearly dropped to the floor. His fear had come true. The one girl he knew would be impossible to crack, was the one girl he had to now pretend to show an interest in and get her to fall in love with him. It was an advantage, of course, that they were already lab partners so finding a way to talk to her would be easy. What could go wrong? Oh yea...she absolutely refused to talk to anyone! Lab partners or no, she did anything she possibly could avoid talking to anyone. This was going to be harder than he thought...

The next morning Edward woke up thinking about the bet. How was he going to get Bella to give him the time of day. Any other girl...it would have been easy. A no brainer even. All he needed to do was smile his crooked smile at a girl and it nearly sent them into a frenzy. For the first time, Edward had no strategy. The entire ride to school he thought of ways to get Bella to talk to him. He had always been curious as to what happened to make her the way she was now, but obviously asking her what drove her into what looked like depression was not the way to get on her good graces. He had to be her friend. Show her he was genuinely interested in her life. Who knew if she even had anyone in her life right now...it definitely wouldn't be easy if she was seeing someone. But if she was, she wouldn't be this distant, now would she?

"Edward, are you alright?" Alice asked, concerned for her brother. "You've barely said anything the entire ride to school." He looked at her and gave her a smile, forced of course.

"I'm ok, no worries," he told her as they got out of the car and headed towards the building. As they passed the parked cars, they noticed a girl sitting alone on a bench writing in a journal. It was Bella. All the worries flooded his mind at once. What was he going to do?

"It's about that bet, isn't it?" Alice asked, lowering her voice so that no one would hear. Edward simply nodded his head. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get her to fall in love with you." She smiled and gave him a hug.

"Alice, she doesn't talk to anyone...she literally keeps to herself. How am I supposed to even approach her?" Alice looked surprised. Never once had her brother taken to know such detail about someone he had never really spoken to. Yet here he was, acting as though he had already known this Swan girl for years.

"I'm sure you'll find a way Edward...no girl can resist you," she smiled and noticed Jasper waiting for her by the door. "Don't worry so much!" She added and headed towards where Jasper was. The first class of the day had been English, another class which Edward shared with Bella. She happened to be seated near him as well, though he hadn't thought twice about it until today. He studied her from the corner of his eye as he sat in his seat. Another black hoodie, this one perfectly fitting to her tiny frame. She was hot, as she had rolled up her sleeves to reveal wrist bands on her arms...some sort of new style perhaps? What threw him was the fact that she had not taken it off despite being hot in this room. He tried to get a good look at her face; she was pretty but she was disconnected. No interest or life had been in her eyes; she was merely there to be there. She had faint dark circles under her eyes, signaling difficulty sleeping at night which was odd to him. She used to be so full of life. This girl was not the same Bella he remembered and it bothered him. Made him want to know more as to what caused this, who caused this.

"Mr. Cullen, eyes up front!" the teacher ordered and quickly he obliged, not noticing his side stare at turned into a turning of his head to really get a good look at Bella. He still could see her from the corner of his eyes, she had been looking back but instantly looked away. She had been caught. "So as I was saying, you will be paired up with a fellow classmate and pick from a hat which essay you will be analyzing and presenting to the class. Presentations are to be no less than 5 minutes long and you will draw a card at random with a number indicating the order in which you will present. When I call your name, take a seat next to your partner and we will get started."

"Angela and Ben. Jessica and Mike. Edward and Isabella..." he heard our names get called and he attempted to hide the excitement which overcame him. This project was the perfect way for Edward to get Bella to warm up to him and maybe even, one of these days go out with him. He moved his things over so that Bella could move her desk closer to where Edward was sitting; she started to move her desk before he even had the chance to offer to come to her. Within the next few minutes, their assignment had been drawn along with the number in which they would present. They were going first. Bella seemed awfully uncomfortable with the entire project and it wasn't hard to guess why. She did not like to stand in front of crowds and talk to people she was not comfortable with. If she was comfortable, she would actually be more social.

"So...Bella," Edward began but she made no attempt to turn to look at him as he addressed her. "We have two weeks to complete this assignment, perhaps the best way is for us to read this passage to ourself first, takes notes on what you see and then we can put it all together into one big presentation...what do you think?" He asked, hopeful of at least getting to look into her eyes.

"Ok." Was all she could say. He knew better than to push her further with how closely he had observed her behavior, but he needed more than just an ok. What if her thoughts were better than his? He wanted to know.

"Are you available after school today?We can go grab lunch and discuss how we want to pursue this assignment..." he offered.

"I don't know. Charlie expects me to be home after school," Edward was alittle relieved. Not in her refusal but that she had said more than one word when he thought it would be close to impossible to get even that.

"Charlie?" he asked. He was sure she was addressing her father, Chief Swan though he hadn't expected her to refer to him as Charlie.

"My father, but I could go to the library for a little bit if you wanted to do that." Edward was hopeful once again. For whatever reason, not just because of this assignment, Edward was able to get Bella Swan to actually talk to him. No one, not even teachers, were able to do this.

"That sounds good, I'll meet you in the lot after school. If anything changes, let me know in biology," he said as he began to write something down on a piece of paper. A moment later, he tore it out of his notebook and handed it to Bella and smiled at her as he handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked, finding the need to look away as she was not used to this nice behavior from Edward. He had always ignored her.

"My number, call me anytime Bella," He smiled and in the moment, the bell rang. "Can I walk you to your next class?" This was definitely not usual behavior for Edward. She didn't know what to say. She simply got up and started walking towards the door for her next class with Edward by her side. Of course, everybody stared at them. Edward noticed Jasper and Emmett by their lockers surpressing laughter as they knew exactly what was going on. When they arrived at her next class, she turned to look at him, her eyes curious.

"Thanks..." she said with uncertainty and turned and headed to her class. Edward was now confident that getting Bella to agree to go out with him would be easier than he ever thought it would be...who knew...

** A/N: This is another fanfic I started and decided to post on here but keep in mind..I won't be posting the chatpers as easily...review..review...review...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 2

EPOV

Classes felt as though they were dragging on forever. All that consumed Edward's mind was Bella, the bet, the project and how he had made such quick progress in getting Bella to talk to him. She never did that. Ever since she became this distant person, she barely spoke one word to anyone. She was even mute if called upon to answer a problem. Yet today, she had spoken to Edward and had even agreed to meet with him at the library after school. There were no words to describe the excitement which Edward felt. He could already see himself during the summer and not having to give up his car. Instead, he'd be completely in charge of his brother. That never happened. He looked forward to it and finally felt this bet would be in the bag for him. He has thought the worst but now, with such quick progress he knew better. His confidence was restored. At lunch, Edward looked for Bella. He had spotted her as she came in and took her seat at the far end table where no one bothered to go to; she was alone, just like every other day. He sat and stared at her, trying to study her actions and hoping to understand them. Everyone at the table attempted to not notice the despiration in Edward's actions.

"So Eddie, worried about losing the bet?" Emmett teased.

"Actually no, if you haven't noticed, we're talking," Edward responded, never taking his eyes off of Bella. She had taken out her cell phone and the piece of paper he had given her. He watched with a hopeful expression that she would in fact, add his number into her phone. He would take it as a sign that he stood a chance.

"Didn't look like that to me," Emmett said.

"Yea, it looked like you were following her around like a puppy," Jasper added unable to surpress a laugh.

"Come on guys, it's bad enough you made this stupid bet. And whether they were talking or not, something must of happened for Bella to have even walked with him..." she threw in their faces and instantly, they no longer had much else to say. She was right. They didn't know what happened prior to seeing them in the hall together. As far as they knew, Edward had already asked Bella on a date and she accepted. If that was what happened, it would mean Edward could win this bet. Emmett didn't like that thought at all...

"Thanks Alice," Edward said, glancing at her.

"No problem!" She smiled back at him then turned to Jasper and Emmett and stuck her tongue out on them.

"Aww Alice, that hurts. You're supposed to be on my side remember?" Jasper said, feigning a hurt expression.

"Then it'd be 4 against 1 and that isn't fair. Besides, he's my brother and I'm going to help him win this bet if I need to," she crossed her arms. Jasper couldn't stay angry long knowing she was right. He simply enjoyed making Edward feel doubtful for once, he had nothing to gain from this bet like Emmett. So for him, he wasn't on Emmett's side or Edward's side. He was simply enjoying playing the role of devil's advocate. Edward continued to stare at Bella. She still hadn't added the number into her phone, which he couldn't hopefull feeling he had originally when she took her phone out had slowly been slipping. Why wasn't she adding it? He watched as she took tape out of her bag and as she taped that piece of paper to a notebook but still had not added it to her phone. He watched as she put her head in her hands, looking confused as to everything going on around her. He had an urge to comfort her. He didn't understand this feeling and simply decided it was just a perfect way to show her he cared about her. By doing that, she would go out with him. He was sure of it. Affection would work, he decided. He almost stood up and went to sit with her when he noticed her slightly jump as though surprised. Her phone had gone off. This was the second time he was noticing her reaction when she was taken by surprise. It wasn't normal to be that scared at a simple noise, was it? Again, Edward watched as she looked at her phone. She seemed to panic as her hand moved to her mouth, surprised to what she saw or read. She then gathered her books together and charged out of the cafeteria.

"Edward, what's wrong?" Alice asked, following his gaze.

"That's what I want to know..." he said almost in whisper. Alice was the only one who heard him which caused her to wonder just what exactly was Edward feeling towards Bella. He had been putting more attention towards Bella before the bet than he had towards his ex-girlfriend. Then again, she used him and cheated on him throughout most of the relationship...maybe he had given up on her way before it ended. Instead of confronting him about it, Alice decided to do the opposite and keep an eye on him as the weeks progressed.

Bella hadn't been in Biology that day, though she had not left school as her truck was still parked. Edward couldn't pay attention in class. He wondered what could have happened during lunch to have resulted in Bella's absense. If her truck was still here, where could she be? Who had upset her? Was she even upset? Was she scared? He wanted to know and the curiosity was starting to get to him. He once again didn't understand why he had this much of an interest to know what was going on with her. Sure, before he would look at her from time to time and simply think how strange she was with her sudden behavior. Now though, it was something different. It's just the bet, he concluded. The teacher had been passing back a recent exam taken in class.

"Edward, do you know where Miss Swan is?" he was asked but what could he say? He didn't want her to get in trouble for skipping.

"I'm not sure, maybe the nurses office?" He responded, hoping the teacher bought his excuse for her. As long as he didn't call to check, then Bella would be fine and would not get in trouble for cutting class.

"Very well then," the teacher answered as he handed back Edward's exam and stalked back to the front of the class. Typically, it annoyed the teacher if anyone wasn't in class as he did not like having to repeat the material twice. Luckily, that responsibility was given to the lab partners so now Edward would have to help Bella catch up. The ring of the bell indicated the end of Biology and the end of the school day. Today, it also indicated that any moment he would be meeting Bella in the lot and getting extra time to win her over. No one seemed to show they cared...what better way to get to her and make her fall in love with him if he didn't do that? As he exitted the school, his eyes instantly went to search for Bella. Where could she be? And there she was, sitting at the bench he had seen her sitting earlier this morning. It seemed that even though she skipped out on Biology, she was still keeping to her word and was waiting for him. Edward approached her but didn't want to do so in a way that would scare her; he had noticed that was happening to her a lot to today. Definitely more than usual.

"Bella?" he called to her, giving her some time to process and respond. He noticed her stiffen but then instantly relax when she slowly turned and noticed it was just Edward. "Hey...I missed you in Biology today, where'd you disppear to?" He asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. She went to answer but then looked as though she needed time to think of her response.

"I wasn't feeling well...was at the nurses office," she simply said, hoping her bad acting skills would not give her away.

"Sorry to hear that...I have the notes if you want to look over what you missed..." he offered, hoping this would get him to have more time with her. He only had a month and a half to get her to fall in love with him, he could use all the time he could get.

"Thanks..." she said, looking way. She seemed to not like eye contact, but why? It was as though she was afraid of something. She couldn't possibly be afraid of Edward, could she? That wasn't possible..

"No problem, shall we head to the library?" she shook her head in response to his suggestion and stood up to follow Edward to the lot. She tried not to make her glances at Edward obvious as they walked into the lot. She didn't understand why suddenly Edward went from ignoring her completely, to giving her his number and trying spend time with her after school. It made no sense to her, nothing about her was interesting. She was nothing special, she knew this. As they walked passed all the cars, avoiding all the whispers and whistling coming from Edward's group...clearly it was Emmett with assitance of Jasper...Bella stopped short when she took a look at her car. She couldn't move. She was still as statue, which Edward noticed right away.

"Bella, what is it?" he asked, not hiding his concern. He meant it too, it wasn't part of the act at all. She didn't respond, she just stared straight ahead trying to catch her breath. He looked over to where she was staring and noticed a tall, tanned, dark haired guy, who clearly did not go to school here, standing against her truck with his arms crossed and a smirk planted across his face. He noticed Bella stopped moving and decided he would come to her, which only made her take a few steps back, as though she was using Edward as her shield to protect her from him. Edward caught on to this and took a step to the side so that Bella wasn't exposed. Instead she was completely shielded by him, no opening at all for this stranger to get to her.

"Bella.." the stranger said, the smirk still where it was to begin with. He seemed to enjoy the effect he had over her, enjoyed that she had to run and hide. She showed weakness and this drew him in even more. "I assume you got my messages today..."he added, completely ignoring Edward. She did not respond, instead Edward felt her grab onto him. She was clearly terrified of this stranger. Edward cleared his throat, bringing this guy's attention directly to him.

"Can I help you with something...obviously you are not wanted here," Edward said, ready to fight him if necessary. As long as Bella was safe and no where near him.

"Oh I'm always wanted," he replied and looked back to Bella. "Isn't that right Bella?" He smirked. Edward didn't like this stranger. He clearly was no friend of Bella's if this was the way he treated and spoke to her.

"I think you should leave now." Edward ordered him.

"And you are?" the stranger asked, annoyed that Edward was standing in his way of getting to Bella.

"Edward Cullen. And you, are not wanted here."

"Fine then, Bella...I will see you later tonight," the grip Bella had on Edward tightened as she heard his words. She was terrified of this guy. Edward and Bella watched as he got on his motorcycle and sped off, leaving a terrified Bella with Edward. He turned to face her, putting his arms around her to guide her over to her truck so she could sit down.

"Bella, who was that?" Edward demanded. He did not like this character one bit. If he ever crossed paths with him again, things would not play over as nicely as they did. Edward promised himself that.

"Jacob Black..." she uttered. "Charlie's friend Billy's son." she sat there not looking at Edward as she spoke. She stared out into the distance, as though she was defeated and had no way of keeping herself safe.

"And what exactly does he want?"

"Nothing." Bella said, snapping out of her reverie and tried to play everything off like it did not just happen. This would not work that well though.

"Bella...it was not nothing," Edward started. He moved lower so that he had direct eye contact with Bella. "Listen, I know I haven't shown much interest before and for that I apologize. But I do care about you and that Jacob character is not a good guy. And if he plans on hurting you and you don't tell me, how can I help keep you safe?" Bella sat there, amazed by what he had just said. He cared about her? It couldn't be. No one cared for her.

"I can't...I can't talk about it." she said, fear evident in her eyes. A moment later her phone rang and she went to answer her. Edward watched as she fought back the tears that were forming in her eyes. When she got off the phone, she told Edward it was her father who had called. Apparently Jacob and his father were coming over for dinner...Bella was scared more than she had been before. So that was what Jacob meant when he said he would see her later. This left Edward feeling uneasy and not wanting to leave Bella alone tonight. That was when an idea crossed his mind.

"Bella...it seems like what you need is a night away from your house...away from this Jacob," Edward started. Bella's eyes lit up slightly at the mention of an escape from Jacob for the night. Somewhere she would be safe. He turned over to where the group was standing and noticed Alice paying more attention to him and Bella than everyone else. It was obvious she knew what had happened. She had seen it. Edward motioned for Alice to join them and within an instant she was by his side, smiling at Bella.

"Hey Bella..I'm Alice!" she exclaimed and gave Bella a big hug, something Bella had not expected and looked slightly afraid from the close contact. Edward took Alice aside for a moment as Bella sat in her truck, processing everything that was going on. Whatever Edward had told her had Alice bouncing up and down in excitement.

"So Bella...what would you say to having a sleep over for the weekend at my place!" Alice offered. "It's Friday anyway, I can talk to you dad and explain you have a huge project to work on with me and you can come and stay with us for the weekend...what do you say?" she beamed. Instead of the project, Alice would be using Bella as her next project and take her on a long and boring shopping trip. Bella wasn't so sure if it would work but took her phone out to call Charlie anyway. Half way through the conversation, it seemed Charlie wasn't as happy about this idea as Alice and Edward were.

"Dad," Bella had said. "This project is worth nearly half my grade. Are you implying that you want me to fail my class and not graduate?" Edward liked this. Not because she was being smart with her father, but because there was something still in her that did not keep her so distant. There was hope in bringing back the Bella he remembered, at least he hoped there would be.

"I can be there for a dinner some other night, Billy wouldn't mind." she added. Edward noticed that she only mentioned Jacob's father not minding her absence. Something about Jacob rubbed him the wrong way.

After a few more moments, she was off the phone and telling Alice the plan worked. Alice was more than excited...she needed to go shopping anyway.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun! I hope you like getting your make up done and going shopping!" She exclaimed. Bella looked terrifed but at the same time relief washed through her. She seemed to just be happy to not have to be under the same roof as Jacob Black. "So I'll ride over to your house with you Bella, so we can get your things and then we'll go over to my place?" she asked and Bella nodded in agreement. The plan seemed to be working. Edward knew he'd be meeting the girls back at his place, but he still decided to follow them to her house and wait around the corner. He didn't trust this Jacob to leave her alone. Something was very wrong. He wondered if Jacob had been the cause to the way Bella was now...it seemed possible. Regardless, Edward was determined to turn it all around, not just to win the bet but to give Bella something to look forward to. She shouldn't be so scared of this guy..what could he have done to make her this way? Edward couldn't seem to put that thought in the back of his mind as he followed the girls to Bella's house.

** A/N: please be sure to review...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 3

BPOV

Bella pulled up to her house, examining the area to make sure it was safe. After the run in with Jacob and the message he had sent her, she couldn't be too careful. Through recent years, this became routine for her. She would constantly receive messages from Jacob and as a result, be forced to watch her every move afterwards. Today she had been careless. She should have known after the message she received that Jacob wouldn't be too far away. However, with the sudden unexpected attention from Edward and planning a way to hide from Jacob later that night, she hadn't thought of a scenario occuring where he would actually show up at the school lot. That was the first time he had done that, which made her think if she didn't run and hide, history would repeat itself. She cringed at the memory of the incident with Jacob. The memories were forever burned into her mind and would forever haunt her. -Don't break down now Bella- She told herself over and over in her mind. She was not alone...Alice was afterall sitting next to her in the truck. That alone was strange for Bella. The last thing she needed was for Alice to see Bella completely break down. Questions would be asked and Bella prefered to shy away from talking. After the incident, Bella shut down. She couldn't trust anyone after that and kept everyone she met, even her own father at arms length. She had slipped away from herself, all the life leaving her fragile form. She didn't want to continue on with the life she was leading but tried to stay strong for Charlie, who was so naive. If he had known the truth, Jacob would never set foot into the Swan house ever again.

"Bella?" Alice asked, noticing her sitting with the keys still in the ignition but deep in thought.

"Oh, sorry.." Bella responded faintly, trying to come back to reality and get this over with. The two got out of the truck and headed into Bella's house. Charlie waas still at work and wasn't due home for another hour. Just enough time for her to get what she needed and drive away, avoiding Charlie's visitors.

"Your house is so cute! I love it!" Alice exclaimed as she took in Bella's house. Bella remained quiet, clearly consumed with her own thoughts. The two made their way to Bella's room. Bella found a bag which she would use to pack clothes over night and quickly went to work. Alice sat on Bella's bed watching each clothing item Bella would take out of her closet...clearly disappointed and was not willing to hide it.

"No! .NO!" Alice exclaimed, getting ready to stand up to take over and leaving Bella standing with confusion and surprise on her face. She still was uncomfortable with people shouting suddenly...it always caught her off guard.

"What's wrong?" Bella managed to get out. Obviously remaining silent would not be an option at this moment.

"Your wardrobe Bella...I don't get it!" Alice whined to her and came to stand next to Bella, trying to look at every article of clothing in her closet. "I mean look at this...majority of your clothes is hoodies and not all of them are your size Bella...this is no good!"

"They're comfortable..." Bella whispered, never before feeling that her clothes were a problem as well.

"Well rest assured, I am going to take care of this! We are going shopping first thing in the morning! I won't take no for an answer!" Alice exclaimed. Bella enjoyed Alice's enthusiasm. Truth was, Bella's clothes never before were a problem. She used to wear clothes that fit her properly and never tried to hide her thin frame. After the incident, she refused to wear anything that would bring attention to her and her body...she would not go through something like that ever again. It was a promise she made to herself. As a result, baggy clothes were added to her wardrobe and secretly, Bella had been learning self defense.

"These wrist bands...they won't go with the new clothes we get you, so they'll have to go too." Alice told Bella which caused her to nearly have a panic attack. She couldn't get rid of the wrist bands. She refused to. That was one thing in her wardrobe she would not let Alice get her hands on. She was hiding just how much pain she was in with those wrist bands. If anyone was to see just what she was covering, it would cause millions of questions which inevitably would lead to a potential discovery of the incident that happened a few years back.

"NO!" Bella all but screamed, which left Alice unhappy at the refusal. She loved the control but also wondered why Bella wasn't willing to lose the wrist bands. "They stay.." Bella tried to sound less crazy this time and managed to get her voice under control. She didn't mean to have an outburst. She felt terrible for it.

"Oook...well, I'm not giving up on them...just warning you!" she said and went back to helping Bella pack her things, and trying to find clothes that weren't twice Bella's size. As the girls were ready to make their way back to Bella's truck, Bella's phone went off indicating she had a message waiting for her. With the image of what happened earlier at school, she dreaded who it could have been. Her fears came true when she saw the message, once again was from Jacob Black.

-So Charlie says you won't be around tonight...not smart Isabella- It read. Bella tried her best to ignore it but couldn't. Why was he doing this? She thought to herself. He had taken so much from her already, why must he try to bring himself back into her life only to take away what was left from it.

"Bella...what is it?" Alice asked, noticing the sudden change in Bella. She had been holding on to the railing, an attempt to keep her balance. If not for the railing, Bella may have fallen down the stairs.

"Noth...nothing," she tried to stay strong, but how could she?

"Bella..." Alice started. "I know you don't know me very well and it's already strange for you that we've insisted you come stay with us this weekend. But, I want to be your friend...I want you to feel like you can come to me with anything," she told her. Bella was in awe. No one had given her this much attention in years. When she shut everyone out of her life, they left willingly. They had other friends, normal friends they could and would spend their time with. Suddenly here she was with Alice Cullen, one of the most popular girls in school who was telling Bella she wanted to be friends. Maybe talking to someone would make it better...but, how could Bella trust Alice to keep her darkest secret. She didn't know her...but the words wanted to come out terribly. For years, she'd been wanting to tell someone but instead found a new way to ease the pain. It was becoming overwhelming for her. She couldn't be alone with this. Not with Jacob being back in the picture.

"Really?" Bella asked, unsure if Alice really meant what she was saying.

"Of course! I'm a good listener," she smiled at Bella and gave her a hug. "Whenever you're ready!" Bella nodded, taking Alice's offer into serious consideration. The two stepped outside and headed for Bella's truck. Bella thought she noticed a silver volvo parked around the corner...the only person she knew to own that volvo was Edward. But why would he be outside her house? He knew later on she and Alice would be back at the house. Trying to brush off the feeling of being watched and got in the truck, ready for Alice to direct Bella to the Cullen house.

Being faced with the very people who spent majority of their time judging Bella and ignoring her made everything feel awkward and surreal. She never imagined she would be at the Cullen house of all places. Despite this feeling, she felt safe here. Jacob would never get to her here and if Edward was going to keep up this sudden change in behavior, he would help her if she needed it. She just hoped he wouldn't push to know the truth about Jacob.

"What's SHE doing here?" The blonde, Rosalie had asked with disgust. Rosalie was the worst out of them all when it came to having a problem with Bella. To this day Bella never understood what it was she did that would cause Rosalie to hate her so much.

"Rose, be nice...Eddie's got a play date," Emmett teased which immediately caused Bella to shy away and want to crawl under a rock.

"Stop it, both of you!" Alice exclaimed! "We have a guest and you will be nice to my friend!" Alice was proving to be loyal and trustworthy, just like she had put off back at Bella's house. Inside, Bella felt somewhat happy that someone was defending her.

"Thanks Alice," Bella told her, a faint smile could be found on her face. This was the first time in the last few years Bella had thrown a smile. Edward stood over by the counter watching the scene play out. He was impressed with his sister's help with Bella. It was starting to seem, more than at the beginning of this bet, that with Edward acting like he cared and Alice trying to be her friend, Bella would be warmed up to him in no time. This ultimately meant his summer would be something hopeful instead of something he dreaded.

As the hours went by, Alice showed Bella around the house so that she would become more familar with the area. She had been formally introduced to Carlisle and Esme Cullen, their parents, who had been very friendly and welcoming.

"You must want to wash up Bella.." Alice offered. "I'll show you where the bathroom is and you can take a shower, but be ready for movie night!" Bella once again, could'nt help but smile at Alice's excitement over this sleep over, which was odd considering this day was the first day they had really spoken. Alice dropped Bella off at the bathroom door and told her she would get her a towel.

Bella stood, staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror unable to feel much towards her own reflection. She saw the changes herself. They weren't hard to miss. Her face, paler and thinner-if that were even possible-the dark circles underneath her eyes...all of this resulting from the emptiness which had overtaken her a few years back. The life in her eyes, which once shown exciement and happiness was gone. She looked like a walking corpse. How could she have let herself fall this way? She took a deep breath as she took each wrist band off, without thinking twice, only to reveal several scars. Some were fresher than others but most had already healed, only leaving their mark to remind her they were there and would never disappear. She felt stupid for them being there to begin with. What had he done to her? In an instant, no knock on the door or anything, Alice had charged into the bathroom with the towel she had promised Bella.

"Here you g-" Alice stopped as she looked down at Bella's wrists, which no longer had the wrist bands. Realization hit her instantly. She now understood why Bella was so quick to refuse her the permission to change them from her wardrobe. Why would she do this? Alice thought. She was sad and hurt to know Bella felt she needed to resort to hurting herself to deal with something dark in her life. She wished, now more than ever, that she had become friends with Bella sooner. At least then someone would have been there for her.

"Alice..." Bella said, panicking and knowing what this meant. She had slipped. She had mistakenly forgotten Alice was coming back. Otherwise, she would have never taken the wristbands off. "Please don't say anything..." she pleaded. Alice's expression softened at Bella's request and tried to force a smile on her face.

"Mums the word...but...please don't feel like you can't talk to me," and with that, Alice left Bella in the bathroom, with the proper privacy she deserved. Bella clearly needed a friend right now. The image of Bella's wrists had been constantly replaying in her mind. When she reached the living room, Edward noticed Alice's puzzled expression.

"Where's Bella?" He asked.

"Shower," Alice said as she walked passed him and took a seat on the couch with her arms crossed. The rest of the group had been there too, the guys busy with their video games while Rosalie sat bored with her magazine.

"Alice, everything ok?" Jasper asked, noticing the troubled look on Alice's face. This was unusual for Alice. By now she would have forced them to turn the games off but instead, she sat silent.

"Sure," she said, althought now that she was near Emmett, Jasper and Edward, the bet they had made was on her mind. While she wanted badly to help Edward win, she couldn't allow for this to continue. Bella was troubled and needed friends, not to be used and tricked into feeling something that would never truly be returned. Who knows what that could do to her? Who knew how bad she even was...Alice assumed there was so much more behind Bella's pain and all she wanted to do was help.

"Alice, come on...spill it!" Emmett chimed in.

"This bet you guys have made," she whispered, knowing Bella was on the second floor and could be down soon. "It's not a good idea. Tricking her into falling in love with you isn't right and you know it Edward. She'll be crushed when she learns what you feel for her isn't real..." she started, hoping to talk some sense into him.

"Alice, she won't ever find out. As far as she'll be concerned, it'll all be real," Edward said even though he knew she was right. But a hopefull summer was something he desperately wanted.

"Really? And what if she falls for you..what happens after prom?" Alice pushed it, hoping he wasn't as dumb as he was acting. "There's no shame in losing a bet. Think of the damage you would be inflicting on this poor innocent girl...I can't let you do that!" She stood up and started to head out of the room. Edward followed her instantly and pulled her aside.

"Look, I've thought about all that...and well, what if this isn't just some bet to me?" Edward asked, he honestly never thought about what would happen after prom. Maybe they could really develp something special in this month and a half.

"You shouldn't be pursuing a relationship with her Edward, bet or no bet. I'm serious, what she needs is friends. Not a fake boyfriend who is in for it simply to win a bet and a slave out of a brother for the summer..." With that, Alice was heading up the stairs, leaving Edward worried she may say something to Bella.

**A/N: please be sure to review...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 4

BPOV

Bella spent a little longer in the shower than she had originally planned, which only added to her discomfort seeing as how this was not her house. At least at her place, Charlied usually came off late, sometimes not at all so she could shower as long as she wanted. The warm water relaxed her tense muscles but here, she couldn't do that, yet she practically did. Once she dressed, she let her hair stay down to let it dry; it was already starting to take on its natural wavy form. She usually just pulled it up in a loose bun but this look changed her look but only very faintly. Bella looked down on the counter and reached for the wrist bands; the memory of Alice storming in and finding her scars rushing back to her. She felt so careless to have not at least locked the door. Now she would have no choice but to discuss them with Alice...no lie would be believable seeing as how Alice had seen them for herself. Would she tell the others? Would she tell Edward? The thought of Edward finding out made Bella even more uneasy, which she didn't understand. She had spent the last few years bottling up all emotions she ever felt, feeling unworthy of deserving someone caring for her. For Edward to have suddenly taken an interest in her was already strange. She had liked him at one point a few years back and now, with the attention he was giving her and making her feel like he truly cared about her and her safety, it was starting to bring those buried feelings back to the surface. Feelings or not, Bella told herself to forget something ever happening. Unless she wanted a repeat of the incident which happened with Jacob, she would ignore whatever feelings came back for Edward and would continue with the way she lived her life. She just hoped her new "friends" would allow for this to happen. Bella suspected Alice wouldn't let her disappear so easily. The knock on the door startled Bella, as she was deep in thought by now. It was Alice.

"Bella, is everything alright in there? You've been in there for a while..." Great, Bella thought to herself. Alice probably was thinking Bella had used the extra time to inflict more injuries on her self. This was exactly why she kept it to herself. Now, Alice would probably always think Bella would be hurting herself, or so Bella thought. Instead of responding, Bella opened the door to see Edward with a very worried Alice standing and waiting for her.

"I'm ok, thanks for asking," she forced a smile at both of them but mainly brought her attention to Alice. She, as far as Bella was concerned, was the one who knew a part of her secret. She feared who else now knew, if there was anyone else.

"Are you hungry? Can we get you anything?" Edward asked, a smile on his face. He looked at Bella as though she was the only girl in his eyes; as though she was beautiful. Bella didn't see what he saw and couldn't understand why he would even bother doing that...maybe he knew and was showing her pity. Before she could answer, her phone went off once again. It wasn't too common for Bella to be using her phone as often. She would be the one usually calling her dad, so only one person came to her mind. Jacob. He was, afterall, suddenly picking up his "interest" in Bella once again. The thought of that and the memory of the incident made her sick.

"Sorry..it could be Charlie," she told them as she took her phone out to look at it, knowing better. It was another message from Jacob.

"It's no problem..I'm going to start dinner for everyone, I hope you like pasta," Edward said as she started to head down the stairs. Bella didn't eat much though being in their home she felt she had no choice but to join everyone. Alice stayed with Bella who had looked down at her phone to read the message.

-You can't hide from me forever Isabella...you know I'll find you...-it read. Bella felt her legs weaken and give out from beneath her. Before Alice could react, Bella had already fallen to the ground but remained silent, knowing if she let out a cry of pain, others would hear and possibly come running. The pain had not been in result of her fall, it was the pain of Jacob and the memory of what he had done to her. He was serious when he said he could find her. Charlie was never home most nights...Jacob could easily find her and she would be alone, just like that night...

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed as she knelt down to check on Bella, who had a blank and pain filled expression on her face. Alice tried to keep her voice down, so that no one would hear something happened. She had still planned on trying to get Bella to open up to her about her scars and possibly whatever else she had been hiding for so long. This reaction, towards whatever the message said, might have to deal with all of this. This, at least, was Alice's theory and bringing others into this right now would be the worst possible thing for Bella. "Bella, can you hear me?" Alice was worried as Bella was unresponsive, though she watched the fear form in Bella's eyes as she tried to fight off the tears. "Here, let's get you to my room..." Alice went to help Bella up, which wasn't hard to do. Bella was snapping out of it slowly but enough to realize Alice was trying to help her and was moving her to a bedroom. Alice's bedroom.

"I'm sorry.." was all Bella said, embarrassed for her behavior. She didn't want anyone to see this. This is exactly why she preferred to be alone but now, being alone was the very thing that she could not do. If she was alone, Jacob would get to her.

"Bella, why are you apologizing?"

"I...I don't know..."Bella responded and took a seat on the floor bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, an attempt to hold herself together.

"I'm going to get you some water, ok?" Alice offered. Bella nodded and watched as Alice rushed out of the door. She was starting to feel that Alice could be trusted, but just because she was starting to feel this way it did not mean she would let her wall down. Though, right now she had no choice. She needed someone's help and Alice seemed like the perfect person to come to. She looked back at her phone, which contained nother message, also from Jacob.

-Scared? You should be...-He said...he knew how to get to her so well. She was powerless against him. She felt that not even the self defense she had been learning would be enough to fight him when the time came for it. She was no longer hopeful Jacob would leave her alone. For whatever reason, he was now back and ready to pick up once again where he left off. He took so much already...what could she possibly have left that he wanted?

While Bella stayed in the room waiting for Alice, Alice had rushed into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She didn't care who thought of her as strange for rushing the way she did, she even avoided the looks Emmett and Jasper had been giving her. Edward however, sensed something was wrong, very wrong for her to have just rushed from being upstairs from Bella to simply get water. Water was never a reason for Alice to run the way she had. All Alice could think about, however, was who was causing Bella this much pain. Whoever it was, Alice was ready to unleash all of her fury to set them straight. Those who didn't know Alice well were unfortunate because Alice was not a force to be reckoned with.

"Alice, what's the rush?" Edward asked, taking a moment away from getting dinner ready which was something he rarely did. He felt that cooking would impress Bella, therefore he offered Esme that he would do it tonight.

"No rush, gotta go!" She said once the cup was filled with water and turned around to go back to Bella.

"You're lying, what happened?" He said, he was being serious which is why Alice stopped rushing and looked at him and questioned whether she should tell him or not. She chose not to because then it would mean Bella could not trust her with her secret and she would have none of that.

"Are you calling off the bet?" she asked, devising a plan.

"No." he said, annoyed that she would even ask knowing what it would mean for him.

"Then it's none of your business." She said matter of factly and took off running back to Bella.

Alice hadn't rushed for Bella to tell her what happened, she saw for herself when she returned that Bella was worse than when she had left her. Something must have happened in the time she had been gone which bothered her because it wasn't even for that long.

"Here you go Bella," Alice handed her the glass, which she took while trying to force a smile on her face to show how grateful she was for her help.

"Thank you Alice..." Bella said after she took a sip of water. Alice smiled, feeling as though Bella may eventually feel like she could trust her with whatever secret she was hiding.

"I am here if you need me," Alice reminded Bella. Bella sighed, knowing what Alice meant when she said those words.

"You know," Bella started, feeling comfortable enough to be able to talk to her. "I've closed myself off from so many people the passed few years that it's a little strange for me to suddenly feel at ease talking to you, someone I never thought I would be talking to..." Bella told her, surprised at how easy it really was talking to Alice. Even when she had her friends, she never talked with them this way. They were too worried with their own lives to care, which is why it was easy for them to let go of Bella when she closed herself off from them.

"I guess it is, but I'm just upset we didn't become friends sooner Bella. We would've had some really good memories by now if we had..." Alice admitted. She really couldn't understand why she went this long without trying to befriend her. Then she remembered why...the group enjoyed mocking those who were different from them, Bella especially. It made her angry even more now she knew Bella better than she had.

"I suppose you have your set of questions," Bella said, looking away from Alice, not wanting to face her if and when she came clean about her passed.

"I do...but I'd rather you tell me whatever you feel you want to. It'll always be between us though, I promise you this." Alice looked Bella in the eye as she shifted her position to be more comfortable on the floor.

"See, if this was us yesterday, I wouldn't even consider talking to you about it at all even if you had still seen what you saw earlier in the bathroom. But now...I.." Bella hesitated, thinking of Jacob as he was now the reason she felt she couldn't hide it anymore. However, she knew if he found out, he may carry through with the promise he had made to her as he left that day...if she told anyone what he did, she would regret it.

"Take your time..." Alice said in encouragement. Rushing Bella with this was not the way to go, Alice knew better than to do that.

"I'm scared..." Bella whispered, clutching to her knees tighter than she had before. She was breaking down before Alice's eyes which didn't scare her. It just made her want to know what was going on that was scaring her so much. Just as Alice was about to respond, the door opened. Edward had entered and took in the scene before him and instantly thought Alice had said something she was not supposed to. Why else would he be seeing Bella holding herself together and looking away, trying to cover up the tears that had been spilling from her eyes.

"Alice...what did you do!" Edward fumed and had almost given too much away. Bella flinched at the volume in Edward's voice and the nasty tone that came with it. Alice quickly looked once more at Bella and then glared at Edward. She wanted so much right now to hit him for just barging in. She was getting somewhere with Bella and then here he came, ruining all of it! How would Bella ever feel comfortable enough to talk to Alice now when people didn't even know how to knock before them came into a room! She stood up and starting pushing Edward out the door before he could say anymore and make matters worse.

"You ever hear of knocking Edward!" she shouted as soon as she had him alone in the hall way.

"You said something, didn't you! How could you!" he snapped back at her, assuming he knew what he was talking about. Clearly, he didn't.

"I didn't you idiot! She doesn't know about that stupid bet!" she whispered this time so that Bella didn't hear anything about it. "You better end that game now Edward, I meant it when I told you I wouldn't let you hurt her." Edward ignored her.

"If you didn't say anything to her about the bet, then why did I walk in on Bella falling apart?" he asked, his voice softening now. The anger had passed as soon as Alice said Bella did not know which meant his summer still looked promising. He also refocused on how he had seen Bella when he walked in; she did not look ok at all. He was worried about her now and felt the urge to go in and comfort her. Alice had other plans, however.

"It's nothing Edward, now why don't you go back to the group while I spend some time with Bella. I seem to be one of the only ones in this house who's taking an interest in being her friend, which is messed up considering bringing her here for the weekend was your idea...or did you forget?" Alice spat in his face. He felt terrible. She was right; having her here to get to know her better was his idea and instead of showing Bella the attention he wanted to, he'd left her with Alice while he had been cooking and putting more attention to his friends. He had to make this up to Bella.

"You're right Alice," Edward started. "I'll go in and talk to her. Maybe she'll be up for a night out with me tomorrow..."

"As long as you don't interfere with our morning shopping trip that's fine with me, but for now, go away! It's Alice and Bella time!" She started to walk back towards the door where she had left Bella, hoping she would still be well enough to talk about what happened.

"Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes Alice, make sure you two head down please," Edward added as he headed down the stairs with his head hung low. He felt like an idiot for his behavior. He had come so close to exposing his secret about his bet with Emmett which could have ruined everything for him. He didn't understand why Alice hadn't said anything though. If she was so determined to make him end it, then why would she keep it from Bella? Wouldn't she do the opposite and make his intentions known?

Bella had been the same as when Alice left her, which made Alice feel terrible and angry for Edward's rude interruption.

"I'm so sorry about that Bella..." Alice apologized. She worried his intrusion would result in Bella putting her walls back up and she would refuse to talk to Alice. It seemed, from what Alice could tell, that Bella was struggling internally with whether or not to tell her.

"It's not your fault..." Bella answering, trying to turn everything around and comfort Alice. This amazed her because Bella had been the one hurting here, not Alice. She was so selfless. With everything Bella had gone through, she was still able to ignore her own pain and worry about others. Did she really think everyone else was blind to her pain?

"Bella, I should've locked the door, so yes it is and I'm so sorry. It won't happen again..."Alice made a mental note to hurt Edward later for doing what he did. It seemed as though the progress she was making would be all she got out of Bella and it made her furious. Bella needed someone to talk. Alice could tell and if Edward had taken that away from Bella, she would make sure he would suffer for it. Bella smiled, appreciating Alice taking the time to assure her it was finally safe for her to continue. She didn't want to. The words which Jacob threatened her with years ago were ringing loud and clear in her mind but she couldn't fully control fighting against them. She had suffered long enough.

"Alice...I'm scared." Bella said as tears escaped and fell down her face. Alice took her hand as a way to show her she would be there for her, no matter what it was she wanted to say.

"What are you afraid of Bella? I'll do my best to help you..." Alice assured her.

"Not just of what...it's more of who..." She said. Her voice was almost a whisper as though at any moment, he would hear her and come charging in repeating what he had already gotten away with or worse. "I'm afraid of Ja...Jacob...Bl...Black." Bella struggled to get his name out. She looked around the room as though she was checking to make sure he would not show up out of nowhere. Alice was caught off guard when Bella suddenly stood up and went over to the window and glanced out investigating. He could find her...she had to check to see if there was any sign of him outside the Cullen house watching her.

"Is that the guy that showed up at school on the motorcycle?" Alice asked, as she watched Bella's actions, confused. She didn't understand why Bella would be checking out the window. Bella nodded her head. "You don't have to check outside Bella...he can't possibly know he's here," Alice told her hoping the words would give her comfort.

"You don't know him Alice..." she walked back over to where Alice sat and handed Alice her cell phone. "Check the inbox." Alice did as Bella instructed and opened the inbox which consisted of four messages from Jacob from the day.

-Isabella...long time no see...can't wait to pick up where I left off...-she first read. This had been the first message Bella had received from Jacob during the school day. It was this text message which had caused her to rush out of the cafeteria and skip Biology. It was also this message which told her he was back and wasn't going anywhere. What bothered her the most was that she had her number changed after the incident happened...yet here he was. He had her new number. No matter what she did, he really would find her.

-So Charlie says you won't be around tonight...not smart Isabella-Alice moved on to the second message, starting to get disturbed by his intonations. This Jacob Black character was threatening her new friend and Alice would not stand for it. She continued on to the other two messages. She now understood Bella's need to check the windows to make sure he was not out there watching.

"Bella...I don't know what his issue is, but you should definitely report him and change your number..." Alice instructed but instantly, Bella shook her head. She couldn't go report it. "Bella...he's harrassing you, you have to report it..." She continued, trying not to be so forceful with this.

"Alice, I can't. I can't do either of those...don't you think I would have already if I could?" Bella answered, slowly starting to panic. "And it has nothing to do with the fact that my father is the chief of police!"

"If it's not your dad, then what is it?" Alice asked and Bella cringed at the memory that was causing her to feel it necessary to keep this all quiet.

"Alice...changing my number will not work because I already did that. But he got it. I'm not sure how because Charlie didn't know I changed it, he doesn't pay attention to those things. And secondly, if I go report this," she pointed to her phone where the messages were displayed as evidence. "then I have to tell them what happened with Jacob a few years back..." This confused Alice though at the same time this was exactly what Alice had been waiting to her. The reason Bella had been the way she was...what changed her from the lively person she once was into the distant, depressed, fragile girl who resorted to hurting herself instead of talking to someone about what happened. Alice hated Jacob Black already.

"If you don't want to tell me...I'll understand," Alice said, taking Bella's hand. Alice wanted Bella to know she had a friend in Alice. The last thing she needed to feel was like another person was a threat to her. Bella took a deep breath before she continued.

"You can't tell anyone Alice...please..." Alice shook her head, understanding the severity of the situation. "Jacob Black is my father's friend's son. His family is very close to ours, which is how I knew him. When my mom moved out, Jacob and his father took on a big role in our lives and Jacob became my best friend. I trusted him with everything, even with telling him if I liked someone which I never really told anyone. A few years ago, my father was out late at work and Jacob had shown up to watch a movie...something we did a lot. Everything was fine...he seemed different though. Angrier...I noticed that change when he finally got me to tell him who I had feelings for and after that, he began acting like some monster. That night...he kissed me but I pushed him away. We were friends...I didn't feel that way towards him and when he wouldn't listen, I asked him to leave..." Bella paused and her grip on Alice's hand tightened. Alice had an idea to where Bella's confession was going and the fury within her intensified. She was ready to hurt Jacob Black beyond repair. Alice tightened Bella's hand in return, signally to her she was able to continue when she was ready. The tears in Bella's eyes were building uncontrollably now..."he...he didn't leave. He was furioius and wasn't acting like the Jacob that was my best friend. He thought he could have anything he wanted, starting with me. He forced himself on me that night and before he left, he threatened me saying if I ever told anyone, I would regret it..." Bella couldn't control herself. It was with those last words that Alice realized she was the first person Bella ever told about what had happened to her. Suddenly the past few years made sense. Bella's change in behavior...the scars...all of it, it was all because of what that idiot Jacob Black did to her. Another thought which crossed her mind was the stupid bet Alice was pushing Edward to end. She was right...this stupid bet and fooling Bella into feeling something that isn't even real would push her even farther into the dark. Alice would put an end to it, no matter what Edward or Emmett had to say. The goal was to protect Bella, not hurt her any farther. Alice hugged Bella...she needed comfort.

"It's ok Bella...let it out," Alice soothed. Alice had no experience in dealing with something like this but she would be there for her new friend.

"I can't go anywhere without worrying he'll be there Alice! He'll always find me!" she cried in her arms. This was all over due. She had kept this bottled up inside for so long, she needed to let it out.

"I won't let him hurt you Bella, he's hurt you long enough!" she answered, thinking of a way that would ensure Bella would never have to be alone.

"Alice, you don't get it. My father is never home and Jacob will always get to me...you can't promise he won't be there," she sat up and looked at Alice with pleading eyes. She felt defeated and helpless.

"Oh yes I can...if you think I am going to let you stay in your house alone at night you couldn't be more wrong!" Alice ordered. "You just let me deal with that!" Bella shook her head as and began whiping away her tears. There was a sudden knock on the door which caused her to jump.

"Who is it!" Alice called out, annoyed by this interruption.

"It's Edward, can I come in?" he called through the door. Alice looked at Bella to see if she was ready to let him come in, considering she had just been crying and was trying to compose herself. Bella nodded her head, signalling it was ok for Edward to come in. She felt so much better after finally telling someone what happened to her, though Jacob's words rang even louder in her mind.

"Yea, if you must," Alice called out, clearly annoyed, He opened the door and came into the room.

"Dinners ready, if you two are hungry..." he informed them but didn't take his eyes off of Bella. Her confession to Alice had taken a huge weight off of her shoulders. She felt lighter, better, slightly happier and it was evident in her face along with her puffy eyes which indicated she had been crying.

"Alright, ready Alice?" Bella asked, standing up to go down for dinner.

"You sure you want to eat?" Alice asked, making sure Bella was ready to face everyone.

"Yea, I'm sure." And Alice headed for the door with Edward and Bella following close behind.

**A/N: ok so...this is where I leave you all to review...the more reviews I see, the more inspired I am to proceed with writing chapter 5...thanks :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 5

EPOV

Edward had difficulty taking his eyes off of Bella the entire time everyone sat at the dinner table. The image he had seen of her when he came into Alice's room was on constant replay on his mind and only caused questions to form; questions that desperately yearned for answers. First thing that went through his mind was how close Alice and Bella had become in only a few short hours; knowing Alice, this bond she formed with Bella was sincere which is why he could understand why Alice was demanding for him to end this bet. Edward wasn't as bad as he was coming off with this bet though; he knew what it felt like to have his heart toyed with and what it felt like to think the person you cared about, returned those feelings when in reality, it all turned out to be a lie. In the long run, he knew ending this bet was smart especially before things actually developed with Bella. But the thought of losing his precious car was something he could not stand. How bad could it be for him to develop a "relationship" with Bella anyway? He had told Alice he thought everything through, but truth was, he didn't. What if she had fallen in love with him? What would happen when the bet was over and he won? Would he continue with this fake relationship he was trying to build? Would he tell her the truth? Would she care if it was all a lie? Edward had too many thoughts on this but no matter how real and horrible the outcome would be, he did not want to give up his car. Maybe Alice could help Bella with it if he broke her heart.

The second thing that bothered him was what he had walked in on when he went to get Bella and Alice to come down for dinner. It looked as though Bella had been crying. The look he saw on Alice's face was one she never had before. She looked so sad, so upset and so ready for revenge that he cringed at the memory of Alice's face. But that wasn't what seemed to bother him the most...it was the fact that Bella had been crying. If Alice hadn't said anything to Bella, then why would she be crying? What happened in the time that he left her alone with his sister? He wanted to know and most of all, he needed to figure out why he was overcome with the need to hold Bella in his arms and protect her from the pain she was feeling. He had never felt that way before, not even with his ex girlfriend Tanya. Yet here he was, feeling something strange for a girl he was trying to trick into falling in love with him. Whatever was going on affected both Alice's and Bella's behavior during dinner. They were both distant and not eager to participate in conversation, this wasn't new of Bella but for Alice to be so quiet and on her guard was different. Something was definitely up and Edward planned on getting to the bottom of everything.

Thirdly, Edward needed to figure out a way to get Bella away from Alice long enough to ask her to go to dinner with him the next night. He knew Alice was taking her away to go shopping in the morning but he demanded to have the night with just Bella. How else was he supposed to make progress with her if he wasn't getting alone time with her? This must be Alice's plan, he thought. He wanted to get even with the pixie for taking Bella away from him and for sabatoging this bet.

"Mom, Dad?" Edward was pulled out of his thoughts when Alice suddenly appeared downstairs, trying to get her parents' attention. "I was wondering if I could ask you guys something..." Esme and Carlisle looked at each other as though both were thinking the same thing...Alice wasn't one to ask for something so it caught them off guard but in a good way.

"What is it Alice?" Esme asked, extremely curious.

"Well, I was wondering if some nights I could stay overnight at Bella's place...and the nights I dont, if she could stay here?" She asked, hopeful that they would say yes. When Alice learned that Bella's father was never home during the night, which gave that Jacob the perfect opportunity to get to her, Alice was determined to never leave Bella's side. This was her first way she could think of to be with Bella during the nights.

"I'm sure every now and then having sleep overs isn't bad, but Alice...on school nights you know how we feel about that..." Carlisle answered. Despite Bella's silence during dinner, she had still made an impression on Edward's parents. They liked her, so Carlisle's answer was nothing against her.

"I know that...I was just hoping you could make an exception here...please," Alice looked hopeful and worried. And she was. She worried if her parents did not allow it to happen often, then Bella would be left defenseless. There would be no one there to protect her from that monster. This was unacceptable. Alice was determined to find a way to help protect Bella.

"How would the chief feel about his daughter not spending nights at home...or if you were always there?" Esme asked, trying to figure out what Alice's true reasons were. Her parents were extremely bright. They knew there was a reason she was trying to push this. They just didn't understand why she couldn't just tell them; they'd understand if she would. They'd even help in any way they could.

"That's just it...he's never there. I don't want her being alone at night. It's not safe for a teenage girl to be home alone with no one there to look out for her..." Alice answered quickly, trying desperately not to give away too much information. Esme and Carlisle looked at each other once again, not to decide if they should allow this. But because Alice's answered had in fact given them the information they needed to hear. They inferred from Alice's reasoning that Bella was not safe with her father not there...but they didn't know why. Because they developed a liking for her, they also felt a need to protect her, just like Alice.

"Would you feel safe with just the two of you in her house Alice?" Carlisle asked, he continued to try to figure out what it was that caused Bella to not be safe.

"Of course! With me and Bella together, we'll be fine. No one can get to her," she answered and a big alert went off in her mind. She had said no one would get to Bella, when she should have said that no one would get to them. She messed up but hoped no one would try to push the topic any further.

"Just make sure Bella speaks with her father and it won't be problem," Esme said and gave Alice a tight hug and looked at her expectantly. It was as though in that moment she was trying to tell Alice that she could come to her mother for anything, even this.

"Thank you!" She said, and ran back upstairs to tend to Bella.

Edward hadn't been seated far away from where Alice had just spoken with their parents. He was able to hear every word and was also able to pick up on the hints she had left in her explanation. This only added to the long list of questions he already had. Why wouldn't Bella be safe? All of the sudden, Alice was in Bella's life so how was it for her without Alice...was she always alone? Was she never safe? Who was causing her to feel this way? For a moment, the incident at school crept back into Edward's mind. The memory of Jacob Black and the sense that he was a threat suddenly grew stronger and Edward, assumingly connected the dots. Bella had been terrified with him near her...she had hidden behind Edward and clung tightly to his shirt out of fear. Something happened between them that caused Bella to act this way. Edward suspected Alice knew exactly what Edward was trying to figure out. Whatever Alice was hiding from him, he would find out. Whether it be from Alice herself, or hopefully from Bella, he would discover this secret. The secret he suspected had everything to do with Jacob Black.

A few moments after Alice had ran back upstairs, Emmett came into the house and found Edward sitting alone, deep in thought.

"Hey Eddie," Emmett said, calling Edward by the one name he hated the most.

"Emmett." was all Edward said which caught Emmett off guard. This was unusal of Edward for each time he was referred to as 'Eddie' he would always react to it. Bad mood or no.

"Edward...you alright?" Emmett asked. While he enjoyed teasing his brother, he also took it seriously when something bothered Edward. It was times like these he put his jokes aside and was really there for his brother.

"Yea. Fine." Edward said, keeping his eyes straight ahead as he was still thinking about Jacob Black and Bella.

"Cut the crap Edward...what's going on?" Emmett pushed. He wouldn't let this drop and Edward knew it, which is why he was quick to drop the act and give in to his brother. Edward worried what Emmett would think. His opinion of Bella Swan wasn't always high which is why for years Edward kept his attraction towards her a secret.

"You wouldn't want to hear about it anyway Emmett," He said in defeat.

"Let's say for tonight I do, okay?" Emmett answered and stared at Edward. It was then he assumed he knew who this was all about. "It's about Bella isn't it?" The playfullness in his voice returned, which only angered Edward even more.

"This isn't funny Emmett!" Edward snapped. He, once again, was overcome by a feeling towards Bella that was all too new and unexpected for him. He felt the need to hit his brother and defend Bella from Emmett and his mind, as though it was a threat against her. He had no idea what was going on with him.

"Ok ok...relax," Emmett said as he raised his hands up to show surrender, that he meant no immediate harm. "So it's about Bella...what about her? Is it the...bet?" He said the last word in a whisper, knowing she was still upstairs and was at risk of walking in at any time.

"Yes, and everything else that is going on," Edward started. "It was clear to me from the beginning from seeing her around school that something was going on with her, especially the past few years. It's kind of why I was hesitant to say yes to the bet when you said it'd be her. I thought it'd be impossible to break through the wall she has around her but I don't think it's impossible anymore; I mean look at how quickly she and Alice got close.. I'm getting the feeling that Alice knows exactly what's going on with Bella, which is why she's been pushing for us to end this bet..And then of course, there's Jacob Black..." Edward said Jacob's name through his teeth. He didn't like this Jacob character and Emmett could see that.

"Who's that?" Emmett asked, confused.

"Did you happen to see some tall guy who looks like he's full of himself stop by on his motorcycle in school today?" Edward asked, looking at Emmett.

"Actually yea...I thought you were going to knock him out you were so pissed. What about him?" Emmett looked amused. What seemed to amuse him was the obvious liking, or lack there of, Edward had taken towards Jacob. This meant, simply from knowing Edward that if he ever encountered him again, there would be a fight and Emmett loved a good fight.

"I think he is part of whatever secret Alice is keeping about Bella...he's not a good person Emmett. There's definitely something there..." Edward mused over his thoughts of Jacob Black. What had happened between them? Had they dated in the past? Did he break her heart the way Tanya broke Edward's? There were so many possibilities...none of which came even close to Bella's reality.

"Hmm..." Emmett thought all while Edward found it surprising that for the first time in a while, Emmett was not joking and actually listening to his brother. "What makes you so sure something's not right with him?"

"Bella's reaction said it all...as soon as she saw him, she backed up, hid behind me and clung tightly to the back of my shirt," Edward informed Emmett as he sat, remembering the incident. Edward regretted not doing more at the time. He should've done more than simply tell Jacob he was not wanted; for all he knew, that simply egged him on and made whatever game he was playing all the more fun. If that was the case, Jacob would regret it.

"Wow...she clung onto your shirt? Seriously?" Edward shook his head in response. Emmett was shocked. Everyone knew how disconnected Bella had been so to hear this behavior come from here on the first day Edward pursued conversations and plans with her was surprising, it also didn't sit well with Emmett. "So what are your thoughts? What do you want to do?"

"Truth?" Edward asked, already completely decided on what he wanted to do. It was clear Bella needed help, not to be toyed with. What needed to be done was to protect Bella from whatever was happening. Edward didn't need to know the details. The idea of Bella was feeling threatened was enough and all he needed to keep her safe. If she trusted him to tell him what happened with this Jacob, then it would be the best feeling for him; to know she trusted him that much. In the mean time, he would do whatever he could to earn that trust. As far as his car was concerned...he planned on making some sort of arrangement with Emmett about that.

"Yea..truth." Emmett said, seriously.

"I don't think playing with her emotions right now is right Emmett...something's going on, something that is causing Bella to be terrified and even has Alice refusing to leave Bella alone at night. She needs someone to protect her...that's what we need to do. So this bet...it has to be off, with conditions of course," Edward said. Emmett looked amused. until Edward added the conditions to it. "Find something else to bet on Emmett...a fight, a race, whatever but not making someone fall in love with me. Same terms will apply to whatever it is. My focus is completely on Bella right now." Emmett stared at Edward for a moment before he answered.

"Ok." He said and stood to head over to the stairs.

"Just like that?" Edward was surprised. Emmett never let a bet just drop like that. Emmett turned to face Edward once more.

"Truth?"Emmett said, trying and successfully imitating the way Edward had said it. Playful Emmett was back. "Yes. Just like that, because you've got it bad and you don't even know it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You think that day in the lot was the first time you've been spotted watching Bella Swan?" Emmett asked unable to surpress his laughter. Edward was confused...was Emmett implying that Edward was already in love with Bell? "Oh Eddie...you are blind!" Emmett added and sprinted up the stairs leaving Edward thinking over what just happened.

BPOV

Alice had decided to keep the night light and fun considering everything Bella had been through. Bella didn't seem to be as cheerful as Alice though, and not because it was her typical mood. She hated make overs and being dressed up like some play thing, which is where Alice and Bella differed in personalities. Alice loved shopping, dressing up and doing make up...other than watching a movie, there was nothing else that had crossed Alice's mind. For two hours, Alice had tortured Bella with what clothes she would put her in and finally stopped on something very form fitting, and appropriate for a sleep over. She refused to allow Bella to put her hair back into a pony tail..it was unacceptable and did nothing for her complexion. Or so went Alice's thinking.

"So Bella..."Alice started as she was finishing up with Bella's hair; she had decided to had curls to her already wavy hair. "How would your dad feel about an additional person staying under his roof some nights while he worked late, while other nights the house was completely empty?"

"I'm confused...what do you mean? How would that even be possible for the house to be completey empty?" Bella replayed Alice's words in her mind, mentally assuming she had heard Alice right, but not wanting to verbally sound like a complete idiot. It made sense to her to ask for clarification.

"I'm saying what if some days out of the week I we had sleep overs at your place...and other nights, you stayed here..." Alice said, keeping her attention on Bella's hair instead of the surprised reaction Bella had.

"I...I don't think that'd be a problem.." Bella started.

"But?" Alice asked, knowing Bella was about to say it herself.

"But...I don't think your parents are going to want me around so much..or have you not home some nights Alice," Bella said, trying to hide the sadness in her voice. This idea made Bella hopeful; it was like the perfect solution to her problem. She would never be alone this way but then she thought of Alice being alone in the house with Bella. If Jacob could do these things to Bella and come back thinking he could it again, what would stop him from hurting Alice to get to Bella?

"That's already taken care of!" Alice beamed in excitement. "What do you say?" Bella hesitated, which didn't go unnoticed. Alice assumed she wasn't wanted which mde her sad. "Unless of course, you don't want me to come over..."

"Alice, I want you to, I just don't want to put you in harms way simply to keep myself from being alone," Bella would feel so horrible if anything were to happen to Alice.

"Bella...first of all, Jacob doesn't know me and I am his worst night mare. Secondly, I told you I would do whatever I could to keep you safe and this is the first and best way I could think of without getting anyone else involved. So I won't take no for an answer..." She said, already making the decision for Bella. Bella was in new territory. She never had anyone care this much about her; to fight for her safety. Her own father spent more time at work than he did at home with her; when she shut down it became too much for him to deal with and he buried himself in work. With her mother off somewhere where she could not be reached, Charlie felt somewhat burdened. His solution? Work. Work. Work. Bella stood from the chair as Alice finished with her hair and hugged her; another indication that Alice had successfully earned Bella's trust. She never hugged anyone...

Within the next half hour, Alice had put a movie on the TV but had fallen asleep. Bella, however, had difficulty sleeping for years. She was constantly haunted by the same nightmare of that night with Jacob. Each time, it happened differently so this time, with Jacob back in her life she worried how bad the dreams would get. She couldn't risk having another nightmare where she woke up screaming in a strange house. Standing up from the floor quietly, hoping not to wake Alice, Bella tip-toed out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs to get to the kitchen. Before she could take a step onto the stair, she was startled by an unexpected voice which came from her right.

"Bella?" It was Emmett.

"Emmett...hey" Bella answered in a whisper. She didn't want to wake Alice up, which he picked up on when she motioned to Alice's bedroom door to indicate Alice was asleep. He shook his head in understanding and whispered back to her.

"Where are you going?" he asked, a grin planted on his face.

"To the kitchen to get a drink...is that ok? I didn't know if it'd be ok for me to do that..." Bella was now panicked, thinking she overstepped her bounds and began to turn around and head back to Alice's room.

"No, don't be silly," he chuckled, finding amusement in Bella's nervousness. "I just wanted to apologize, that's why I stopped you..." Bella was more than confused now.

"For what?" she felt uneasy standing her talking to Emmett. It already felt strange that she was at the Cullen house of all places but now all the Cullen kids were trying to be her friend. What was going on?

"We were rude to you earlier when you came here and It wasn't nice...so no hard feelings?" He asked, making a puppy dog face at her hoping it would work.

"No hard feelings," Bella nodded and turned to head down the stairs to go to the kitchen. She didn't understand why suddenly, at a time where she needed it most, everyone who she hadn't expected to befriend, were becoming her friends. It seemed to good to be true. She stood in the kitchen, drinking the water she had poured for herself from the sink, staring into space-or so it seemed. So much was going on that she still couldn't believe it. Knowing she would have difficulty trying to fall asleep, Bella moved her way over to the living room. The lights were off, which indicated no one was in there. Everyone was probably asleep by now. She took a seat on the couch, only to be startled by a voice underneath slightly shouting in surprise, which also caused Bella to panic...the fact that she was in the dark and someone was actually there made her think of Jacob...what if he was watching her right this minute? The side light came on and a groggy Edward sat up from the couch.

"What the he-" he stopped as his eyes adjusted to see a panicked Bella standing over him, just as surprised as he was. "Bella, you're still up?" he asked, surprised,

"I don't sleep much...I'm soo sorry I sat on you... I thought no one was down here," she pleaded, hoping he wasn't too angry with her for what she accidently did. Bella had a habit of thinking situations like these were worse than they actually were and Edward picked up on it and couldn't help but laugh.

"I dozed off, it was my mistake...you don't have to be sorry. I should be for catching you off guard," He smiled at her and kept his eyes locked on his, Emmett's words shouting loudly in his head. She stood over him, clearly uncomfortable and after a few moments she finally spoke.

"I..uh...I'll let you go back to sleep...I'm sorry for waking you..." she managed to get out and forced herself to look away from Edward, and start to walk back from where she came but Edward's was quick. He was on his feet and had Bella's hand in his so fast she was caught off guard...she stiffened at the unexpected touch, not only for the fact that it was unexpected but also because the moment his hand touched hers to stop her, a sudden surge of electricity flowed through her. What was this?

"Don't go...stay down here with me...we can hang out a bit, you know...talk?" Edward offered, though had trouble forming his words. Edward felt the same thing Bella had. Because of it, he did not want to let go of her hand fearing losing that feeling if he had. Edward was more drawn to Bella now than before, which only made him think just how true Emmett's words had been. Bella slightly smiled and nodded her head in agreement. Reluctantly, she slipped her hand out from Edward's touch and instantly regretted it. She still felt that strong electric shock and tingling feeling going through her; she missed his touch...she took a seat across from where Edward had now been. The two sat, staring at each other, trying to find the right words when in reality, they were both sitting there trying to process whether what they had just felt was real and if it was, what did it mean...

**A/N: hey! so please review, review, review! This story doesn't have as many as my others, which makes it seem it isn't that good..if that's the case it's ok, I just need your feedback to make it better or to see if it's worth continuing!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 6

BPOV

Seeing Edward in the living room so late at night had caught Bella off guard and was unexpected. Sitting on him, was even more mortifying. She hoped to be able to get out of there before making an even bigger fool out of herself, but Edward was too quick. The moment Edward took her hand into his she was overcome with an unknown feeling...one that almost left her feeling as though she were electricuted but found her wanting more of it as soon as she took her hand away and took a seat on the couch to stay and be with him. She had never felt such a strong, electrifying, connection with another person...she never even knew such a feeling could exist when she already felt as though all hope for ever feeling something for someone was a lost cause. Who would ever want to be with her considering the current state she was in? Who would want to be with her once they knew the truth? Once they saw the scars...once they knew she forever broken? It was hopeless; yet here she sat, seated across from Edward, regrettably allowing old feelings to rush through the walls she had put up to keep people out, including Edward. The cause behind these feelings were unknown to her, which built up the frustration. The only reason Edward had taken an interest in Bella and acted like he cared was because he was stuck working on the project with her..Bella said to herself. She repeated this over and over in her mind in hopes that if she said it enough times, she would believe the feelings she was starting to feel rush to the surface were not real. They were simply a result of the attention she had always wanted from Edward Cullen. For Bella, being able to feel anything for Edward left her vulnerable, once again. A shiver went through her as she remembered what happened the last time she was left vulnerable and trusted someone. It couldn't happen again; she couldn't let it. Edward noticed the shiver from Bella and automatically assumed it happened because she was cold. Instantly, he took the blanket which had been folded on the couch and stood up in order to wrap it around Bella's shoulders.

"Thank you..." Bella said in a whisper and Edward smiled, pleased with himself. With everyone being asleep, whispering was the only option. Although, she was also nervous to be alone with him as the memories of Jacob and that incident were very fresh on her mind.

"So Bella., I'm having trouble figuring out why you're not asleep..." he started, even though Bella had already told him she wasn't able to sleep much. Was he simply trying to just talk about anything in order to avoid awkward silence?

"Could't sleep, that's about it" She answered, managing to keep her voice down. She hid the fact that she was afraid of having nightmares...afraid that Jacob would find her and get to her. "I should let you get back to sleep though...I feel bad depriving you of your sleep," she added.

"I think I'll survive..." Edward answered, unable to to supress his quiet laughter. He had been sitting there concerned about her lack of sleep, yet she was more worried about his than her own. It made him wonder if not sleeping was habit for her..."Besides," He added, looking Bella direclty in the eyes. "I like the company." Bella tried her best to keep herself from blushing, something she hadn't done in a long time as well. Pull yourself together, she told herself internally. Showing weakness would only get her into trouble.

"Bella...I wanted to apologize," Edward said, before she could say anything. He wanted to apologize? Bella was almost positive Edward hadn't done anything wrong? How could he have when they never talked?

"Apologize? For what?" she asked, unable to hide the confusion.

"Well..for everything ," he started. "I'm sorry for having not paid much attention to you since you've been here when I was the one who invited you, it was very rude of me. I promise it wasn't intentional...and I'm sorry for being a coward. We've known each other for years and I was the jerk that didn't give you the time of day for all those years, when in reality I was just too much of a coward to get the nerve to ask you out..." he stopped in order to allow Bella to process what he was saying. From his observation, Bella had been caught off guard with his words that her breath caught. "Breathe Bella," he told her,almost smiling. She let out the breath she had been holding, trying to make sense of what Edward said. The nerve to ask her out? Did that mean he'd had feelings for her all those years ago? During a time when that was all she wanted? She had to be mistaken..

"That's not something to apologize for..." was all Bella could say out loud. So much was going through her mind all at once. She had wanted to be with Edward for years; Edward was the guy she had told Jacob about; the reason he had gotten so furious, hopelessly assuming Bella would've secretly been yearning for him when instead it was for another guy; Edward Cullen. It was her feelings for someone else that had driven him to take what he wanted from her, leaving her broken and forever unwanted.

"All of it is Bella...and I'm more sorry than you will ever know," he looked at her with pleading eyes, hoping that on some level, she would accept his apology and in some way, lower her walls to let him in. He wanted her to trust him.

"It..it's ok," she said, knowing if she continued to protest his apology, it wouldn't do any good. Her submissal made Edward smile, knowing that she realized he would still apologize until she accepted it.

"Thank you," he said to her and she nodded her head in response. She couldn't look Edward in the eyes, worried about what she may find there. She didn't want to feel anything for him; she didn't want to feel anything for anyone. The memories hurt too much to allow her to move passed it and unfortunately, she was starting to worry that her own fear would keep her from moving on. It was understandable that Bella was traumatized from the incident, but she had hoped, one day she could accept it and slowly move on. However, the longer she spent sitting alone with Edward, the more that fear began to resurface and she found herself unable to sit still and glancing over to the windows to make sure she wasn't being watched. If Jacob was back, what if Bella wasn't the only target anymore? Anyone who seemed they cared about her could have been in danger; she couldn't risk this.

"Sure..." She said, the puzzled look on her face becoming more prominent. She was growing more anxious by the minute and decided it'd be best for her to go back upstairs, gain a clear head and hope Edward didn't take this as a rejection. He simply didn't understand and there was no way she would ever be able to tell him what happened to her; that would involve trusting him unconditionally and she was too terrified to ever be able to trust him that way.

"I was wondering, I know you're going shopping with Alice tomorrow morning, but afterwards, will you have dinner with me?" He was hopeful that she would say yes and nervous at the same time, which was new for him. He never felt nervous asking a girl out. This must be a good sign, he thought to himself. Bella sat there, surprised at his question. She didn't imagine, not for one second that of all the things he would want to discuss with her, would be whether or not she wanted to go out on a date with him. Discussing the project, maybe but a date? Never once did that thought cross her mind. Of course she did, on some level want to go with him. But she just couldn't do it. She stood up; her sudden movement catching Edward off guard and left him confused as to why she was more or less running away from this conversatoin, more importantly, his question. Was it something he said?

"Bella wait," Edward said, getting up. He tried reaching for Bella once again like he had before but she was ready for it. She turned around on her own this time, keeping her hands behind her back to avoid allowing her walls to fall and that electric pulse to flow freely like it had before. She had already decided she would ignore that feeling, for Edward's sake.

"I'm sorry...I,.I better go," She said quickly, wanting to turn but had mistakenly looked Edward directly in the eyes only to be faced with the pleading, hurt within them. She had caused this by choosing to run instead of staying here with him. It tore her apart.

"Don't...stay here with me," he pleaded, searching her eyes for answers as to why she was suddenly pulling herself back. Before, she had allowed him to touch her and now, she was taking that away as though he had gone too far with something. He never meant to scare her away... "I didn't mean to scare you, if I said something wrong, please tell me..." She took a deep breath before she could answer, not knowing how to form the right words; the words that wouldn't leave him suspecting or hurt.

"Edward," she said, trying to ignore the thrill which overcame her as she said his name. "You didn't do anything wrong, honest. I just...I can't go out with you. It's better this way, believe me." she said, every word of denying him causing an unfamilar pain in her chest. She wanted to tell him to trust her, but how could she ask this of him when she couldn't trust him the way she should be able to. She knew it'd be easy to let him in..but her past would never stop haunting her.

"Then as friends...please? It doesn't have to be anything you don't want it to be, I promise..."he assured her. She nodded her head, which caused a smile to form on his face.

"I'll see you in the morning Edward..." she said and headed quietly back up the stares, slightly regretting ever having come downstairs to begin with. If she hadn't come down, she would've never run into Edward and he would have never asked her out, revealing his true intentions with her...at least she thought this. What she wouldn't and couldn't realize was that he still would have found a way to get her alone so that he could ask her out...

Bella walked up the stairs to her house, bags in hand and Alice slowly following close behind. As she approached the front door and went to unlock it, she took one more look behind her to make sure she was not alone. She turned, expecting Alice to be right behind her but instead found her off in the distance, Edward standing by her side. They both stared, expressionless, emotionless, like statues. It was as if they weren't really there.

"Alice, are you coming?" Bella asked, becoming anxoius, but received no response. Alice stood there, not blinking or anything. Bella took a few steps closer in the direction where Alice had been standing though now Alice was even farther away. Within seconds, she and Edward were completely gone. The panic which had already been developing had now taken over Bella's emotions and she turned to run for her door. She managed to unlock the front door, hands shaking and slammed it behind her. When she was safely inside, she took a deep breath relieved to be safely indoors. Where did Alice go though...Bella couldn't undersand how Alice could just leave like that. Bella thought she could trust her but like always, she had been wrong and now she was alone in this empty house.

She entered the kitchen and looked into the fridge in hopes of finding a bottle of water; thankfully, there had been one left waiting for her. She opened it and took a sip when suddenly, from the corner of her eyes, she noticed a leather jacket laying over the chair in the kitchen. That's wierd, she thought. Charlie didn't own a leather jacket...she shrugged it off, thinking maybe he found it and brought it home when he had passed through and headed up the stairs towards her room. On her way up, she noticed dirty working boots left by the front door; something she overlooked when she first rushed in. Those definitely didn't belong to Charlie. She hoped she was simply imaging those things because as she thought about who they could belong to...she thought of one person who owned those boots and that leather jacket. They were Jacob's but he couldn't be here. She ran up towards her room; the one place she knew she would feel safe and would stop imagining such absurd things. She locked her bedroom door behind her, turned around and took a look at her room; her empty room and took a deep breath. She was safe. She walked over to her bed, realizing she forgot to pick her sweater up from the floor. She picked it up and was startled when a sudden voice spoke behind her.

"Found You." it said; the voice was dark and scratchy and instantly caused Bella to freeze where she was. She knew that voice; she knew it too well. Better than she hoped she would. She paced herself and slowly turned around to face the intruder. When she was finally turned around, the very person she suspected to be standing there, was there; the same smirk planted on his face that had haunted her since the first time he had taken everything away from her. It was Jacob. Somehow, Jacob had managed to get into her house and catch her when she least expected it, just like he had warned. Panic had overtaken her once again, her heart taking on an uneven beat. She was scared; a feeling she swore she would never feel again but was.

"I told you...you can't hide from me Isabella. I will always find you.." he said, his voice filled with anger and hate as he slowly started approaching her.

"Stay away from me!" she managed to choke out, which surprised her considering she had been frozen in place though somehow, she had managed to take a few steps back. It didn't stop him. It simply added to his game and made it all the more fun. He continued his pursuit.

"That will never happen. When will you learn..." he said, closer now and nearly having Bella cornered in her own room. There was no where for her to run. Within another second, the gap between them had been completely closed and his arms clasped themselves tightly around Bella, who struggled to release herself from his grip. She tried hitting his chest with her fists but it did not work. He simply laughed at her feeble attempt to escape. He drew his right hand back and before she could see what was coming, she felt a painful blow to her face which nearly caused her to fall to the ground. Instead, he threw her onto her bed. She fought to remain conscious but could feel herself slipping. No! She had to fight. He, once again, was approaching her only this time she could see him unclasping his belt. She screamed for help, knowing what was about to happened but his laughter grew louder and louder, there was no escape.

Bella screamed, louder than before, only to jerk up and find herself in Alice's bedroom with a worried Alice's kneeling over her. Bella's body trembled in fear as she sat trying to make sense of the scene in front of her. It was so real, she thought. It had been a nightmare...a nightmare that felt all too real.

"Bella..Bella you're ok, it's ok!" Alice had been trying to wake Bella up for the passed twenty minutes with no success. She tried to hold Bella, trying to help her calm down but one touch from Alice caused Bella's panic to escalate and her trembling to increase.

"Alice.." Bella whispered as her body shook uncontrollably.

"Yes, it's me...you've been tossing and turning for over an hour Bella...you were screaming so loud I was terrified and I couldn't wake you up!" Alice was close to getting someone to help her wake Bella up but was thankful it didn' t come to that. She was determined to try to calm Bella down who was so shaken from the dream.

"I was screaming?" Bella's eyes were frightened, worrying that Alice was not the only one who had heard her. Alice caught on as she noticed Bella's eyes travel towards the bedroom door.

"Bella, everyone's gone out to bring breakfast back to the house. It's only you, me and Edward, who's a tight sleeper, you're ok..."Bella took a deep breath, trying to calm down but wasn't successful.

"It was so real," she repeated over and over, so quietly Alice had difficulty hearing what Bella was trying to say. Suddenly, there was a frantic knock on the door, which caused Bella to jump and cling onto Alice's arm. Edward came into the room without waiting for permission and ran over to Bella when he saw the tears falling from her eyes. He hadn't been sleeping, like Alice had assumed and heard Bella screaming. He had to make sure she was ok. He tried to reach to wipe away the tears from her eyes only to have Alice slap his hand away.

"What the hell Alice!" Edward snapped, angry that his sister was interefering with him trying to comfort Bella.

"She had a nightmare you idiot! She's still shaken up, don't touch her!" Alice shot back at him, still angry that he would not end the bet. Edward still hadn't told her that it was called off since it had happened while she was asleep last night.

"Back off Alice," Edward said through his teeth.

"You want to scare her even more you moron?" Alice asked, questioningly and Edward shook his head no in response. "That's what I thought." She said and brought her attention back towards Bella who had her eyes glued to Edward, a searching and concerned look in her eyes.

"Bella..we're here, you're ok," Edward whispered to her, ignoring the roll of Alice's eyes.

"It was so real." She whispered once again. Edward looked confused but before he could ask what she meant, Alice spoke up.

"She's been saying that ever since she woke up...I don't know what it means either." She told him.

"Alice...he's going to find me..." Bella whispered, looking even more panicked than before. Alice suddenly understood what had happened in her dream and knew this conversation needed to happen without Edward. He couldn't know anything of this and if she allowed Bella to say anymore, she would accidently give away something she would regret later. Alice reached over to help Bella help, who reluctantly stood up to follow Alice.

"Where are you going with her?" Edward asked, not ready to let Alice take Bella away from him.

"I'm going to help her get cleaned up and help calm her down!" Alice snapped at him.

"What was she talking about? Who's going to find her?" Edward asked as he followed after Alice and Bella. Alice helped Bella take a seat on the edge of the tub so that she could talk to Edward alone.

"I'll be right back," She told Bella who faintly nodded her head in response. She closed the door behind her.

"She had a nightmare and is just shaken up by it. It wasn't real so it's nothing Edward. Go away!" she told him and started to turn around when he stopped her.

"I care about her too Alice. I know there's something you're not telling me here and by keeping it from me, it could be making things worse for Bella. Do you really want that?"he pushed further.

"No. I want to help Bella and right now I"m helping her by keeping her away from you and from falling into this lie you're putting off!" Alice responded back.

"There's no lie Alice!" he said, regretting now more than ever for even saying yes to the bet.

"Yes there is, you're trying to make her think you care so she can fall for you and then you can win your precious bet...I will not let that happen, you see how she is for yourself! You should be ashamed of yourself for pursuing a bet I've told you many times to call off!"

"Would you forget about that damn bet!" he asked angrily through his teeth, trying to be loud and cause Bella to over hear and be frightened by the loudness in his tone. He noticed yesterday the way she tended to react whenever somone would raise their voice unexpectedly; it scared her. He wanted to help her, not scare her. Alice stared at him for a moment.

"When you do, then maybe I will." She said but before he could tell her he already ended the bet, she turned away and closed the bathroom door behind her, keeping Edward away from Bella and unable to help her get through this. Alice's behavior was unacceptable; the first change he would get, he would have a talk with her. He was sure of this.

**A/N: hey all..thank you so much to those of you who have posted reviews thus far; they're amazing and are inspiring me to continue with the story...so please, keep it up!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 7

BPOV

Alice spent over an hour in the bathroom trying to calm Bella down and make sense out of everything that happened. Though every attempt Alice had made failed, which resulted in giving Bella her time to process. They sat on the bathroom floor cross legged, Alice staring at Bella who remained distant. Any attempt Alice made at conversation went without progress; she feared Bella wouldn't snap out of whatever shock her dream had pushed her into. She had never seen a person with such severe post traumatic stress. But seeing Bella this way infuriated Alice more than she ever thought possible and she would do whatever she could to make sure Jacob left Bella alone. First he takes everything away from her, then he decides to come back into her life and send her menacing messages and now he was creeping his way into her dreams? This was not something Alice was going to take lightly. She wanted to know if this was the first time she had nightmares about Jacob; maybe this was only correlated with his sudden and unexpected presence in her life again.

"Bella?" Alice made another attempt to "wake" Bella up as she waved her hands in front of Bella's face. No luck. "Come on Bella!" She now snapped her fingers. Again, no luck. A knock on the door startled Alice. She stood up and opened the door just enough to peek her head through to see who it was and what they wanted. Annoyingly enough, it was Edward.

"Any luck in there?" Edward asked, voice full of concern.

"No. Go Away!" Alice said but before she could close the door in his face, he stopped her and pulled her out of the bathroom to have a word with her.

"Listen to me Alice, and I'm only going to say this once. You need to stop picking fights with me and realize that we are on the same side here...we both want to watch out for Bella's well-being," he noticed Alice was about to interrupt him. "Let me finish, I know you and your need to interrupt; this bet you keep going on about..it's over with; apparently it was just an excuse for Emmett to get me to realize I was interested in Bella. Which I am. Alice, I genuinely care for Bella and I need to make sure she is ok...so talk to me!" Alice stood, surprised. She hadn't expected Edward to actually end the bet; she knew how precious that car was to him. The fact that he had done that made her realize that what he was saying, was in fact the truth. She took a deep breath before responding.

"You really ended that bet?" she nodded. "What about your car?"

"Doesn't matter; let me deal with that when I need to. Right now, Bella's more important so stop going around the subject and talk to me. What happened? Who is going to get her?" Edward asked, already taking on the assumption that Alice knew more than she was letting on.

"Edward, I don't know what happened, I've just spent an hour trying to get Bella to snap out of it but it's like she's not in there," Alice said, sadness filled her voice. She felt like she failed Bella by not protecting her from her nightmares; Alice didn't know that's how far it reached..Edward rushed into the bathroom before Alice could talk him out of it. He knelt down beside Bella, reluctant to touch her knowing how she normally reacted to it but he couldn't resist the urge. He felt drawn to her. He lightly stroked her cheek with the tips of his right fingers; the same energy which had gone through them the previous night returned, stronger than before. With his other hand, he reached down to take hers and held it lightly as to not frighten her if she finally snapped out of it.

"Bella...you're safe. No one is going to hurt you," Edward started in a soothing voice. Alice lingered by the door insisting what he was doing was no good and would only scare her even more. He simply ignored her and kept his focus on Bella. "Bella," he leaned in closer to her now so that he could whisper in her ear. "Bella, come on, come back to me..."as he said this he slightly applied more pressure to her hand which he held and within a second, he felt her stiffen at the unfamiliar touch and then relax. She blinked, trying to regain an understanding of what was going on around her. When her eyes adjusted, she was startled to find Edward holding her hand and caressing her cheek at very close proximity. She felt that familiar urge to panic and scream but she couldn't; not with Edward. That energy was flowing so easily that for the first time she felt at peace; unwilling to move from this position she continued staring at Edward who couldn't help but smile at her. He had woken her up; she came back to him; he couldn't have been more happy in this moment. After a few moments on escaping her reality, Bella remembered her dream. She remembered Alice and Edward completely disappearing. She remembered being in her house alone. She remembered Jacob being there; hitting her and coming very close to attacking her all over again just before she woke up. Whatever relief she was given in that brief moment instantly shattered and teared began to take residence in her eyes. Edward couldn't see her like this. He couldn't know any of it. She needed Alice.

"Alice?" Bella called out, trying to fight the tears.

"I'm right here," She moved closer to Bella, shifting Edward over ever so slightly. He had already realized he wasn't needed there,which hurt him. He thought there would be that chance that Bella would need him as much as she seemed to need Alice in this that did not appear to be the case. He quietly made his way out of the bathroom, head hung low feeling defeated. He felt helpless not being able to help Bella in the way she really needed. But maybe he could, she just wasn't letting him. Why? he thought.

"Edward?" Alice called to him just before he closed the door. He looked back in, avoiding eye contact with Bella. He didn't want her to feel more pain by seeing the sadness in his eyes. "Thank you." she told him; he nodded and closed to door, leaving the girls to settle what had happened.

Alice brought her attention back to Bella, whose eyes were glued to the door, where Edward had just been.

"Bella?" Alice asked, trying to get Bella's attention.

"He hates me." Bella whispered and looked down at the floor. She could see how much Edward was trying to help her and she ended up dismissing him completely. Not because she didn't want him there, but because he couldn't know what her story was; he just couldn't.

"Who? Edward?" Alice asked, slighlty confused. Surely Bella wouldn't be talking about Jacob Black; she wouldn't care if he hated her...she was terrified of him, not concerned for him. The next person she could think of had to be Edward. Bella nodded in her head, her tears now forcing themselves to the surface. "Oh, Bella...that's the silliest thing I've ever heard. Edward does not hate you!"

"He wouldn't even look me in the eye when he left...it's my fault," Bella told her. Bella knew she needed to bottle up the feelings she had for Edward, but she felt so safe when he held her and brought her back to reality. She didn't want him to leave; but it was the truth she needed to protect him from.

"Bella...he's just worried about you. He wants to help you..." Alice explained, trying to calm Bella down.

"Alice, he can't know! It's not that I don't want him to...it's just, it's already risky that I've told you. To risk him.." Bella stared at Alice, fear in her eyes. "I can't do that..to either of you."

"What do you mean, risk us..?"

"Alice...I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, remember? And I've already said too much by bringing you into it. It's bad enough that you know and that Jacob knows who Edward is now...is Edward knew too, I just can't imagine what would happen..." Bella couldn't let anything happen to Alice or Edward. She sat there, terrified of all the potential possibilities that would come from Alice knowing her secret

"Ok...I get that but why is it bad that Jacob now knows who Edward is? I feel like I'm missing something here," Alice crossed her arms, not enjoying the feeling of being kept out of the loop, not anymore since Bella had opened up to her. What else could there be? Alice thought. Bella took a deep breath before explaining.

"Do you remember how I told you Jacob got upset and changed after he found out the truth about who I liked? Since it wasn't him and all?" Alice nodded her head to respond. "Well, it was Edward..." Bella looked down at the ground, regretting ever telling Jacob anything. So much resulted from that one truth and she could never take it back.

"Oh.." Alice sat...surprised. "So you've liked Edward all this time...and when Jacob found out, he took everything away from you..." Alice wasn't even asking for a confirmation, she said all this aloud, becoming angrier by the minute. "That...that...a-" Bella cut Alice off before she could say anything else.

"To answer your question about Edward...yes I have. But after that night I just...shut down. Being around Edward now is bringing feelings to the surface but I can't do it. I can't risk anything happening to him...and he can't know so it makes everything that much more complicated," Bella told her.

"You never know Bella...after some time, maybe you'll feel comfortable enough to let him in..." Alice sounded hopeful.

"Maybe...but right now I'm just terrified of Jacob finding me," Bella told Alice, ready to finally tell her the nightmare.

"He won't find you Bella..you'll never be in a situation where you'll be alone," Alice explained but Bella shook her head.

"Alice...you don't understand...I feel like it will happen, I've already had a nightmare about it last night...he found me and no one was there to help me. He will find a way Alice, I just feel it and I'm terrified," Bella couldn't control her tears...they had been spilling over violently and were long over due.

"Bella, look at me," Alice instructed and reluctantly, Bella looked up at Alice. "I am going to do whatever I can to make sure Jacob stays away from you! I'll tell you what...today when we're in town shopping, I'll pick up some pepper spray for us both!" She said excitedly. She was more excited to use it on Jacob Black than anything else, but she wasn't going to tell Bella that. Bella shook her head, a faint smile forming on her face. She appreciated Alice's attempt to make things less tense. Though no matter what, the image of Jacob Black attacking her was very strong and fresh on her mind.

Within the hour, both girls were dressed and ready to leave. They headed downstairs to find everyone back with breakfast, while Edward sat on the couch deep in thought. Alice went over to the breakfast table to snack before she and Bella left for Port Angeles but Bella wasn't hungry. Instead, she walked over to where Edward was sitting, the same place they had spoken last night, and took a seat once again across from him. He didn't look up when she sat down; still thinking of how much she didn't need him and about how much he wanted for her to need him.

"Edward?" she said his name nervously. She worried so much of how much she had hurt him when he was simply trying to help. He looked up at her with a forced smile on his face; she didn't fall for it though. She knew he didn't mean it. "Edward...I'm sorry if I made you upset with me..." She said, looking down at her hands while she spoke. He looked up at her, surprised.

"You think I'm upset with you?" he asked in disbelief. She nodded her head without looking up to face him. "Bella...it's the opposite. I'm upset with myself for not being someone you feel you could come to if there's a problem. Clearly I'm doing something wrong here..." he admitted.

"You're not though," she said, forcing herself to look at him this time. "You've been amazing Edward, really. Please don't take what happened up there as indication that I don't feel comfortable talking to you...because I do." she was surprised at how true her words were. He was one of the only people apart from Alice she felt she could be herself around, though she had to keep her limits with him. She couldn't let him in completely.

"Do you think we could go on the porch and talk in private before you head out? I promise I won't keep you too long..." he offered, wanting to ask about her nightmare, but without the risk of anyone overhearing. She nodded her head and the two stood up and walked out on the porch, trying their best to avoid all the glances they were getting from Alice and Emmett from the kitchen. "So, I hope you don't mind me asking about this, but Alice said you had had a nightmare?" Edward asked nervously, unsure of how Bella would react. She remained calm though, knowing she would have to answer this question sooner or later.

"Yea...I don't sleep much already, but when I do I sometimes have nightmares..." She said hesitantly.

"How long have you been having them?When you do sleep, I mean..." he asked, hoping he wasn't pushing too far.

"The past few years, I guess," She said as she took a seat on the chair. Edward did the same.

"Are they always the same?"

"Sometimes..." she answered him. She didn't think it'd be this easy answering his questions. However, she needed to remind herself to becareful how she answered them. She didn't want to give too much of her past away.

"What happens in them?" he continued. All alerts went off in Bella's mind. This is where she needed to stop where the conversation was going. He already seemed to know more than he was letting on.

"I honestly don't want to talk about it...I don't want to upset you but, I don't like reliving them," she said, even though she was forced to relive what had happened to her every single day, especially in her dreams.

"I understand...I"m sorry if I pushed it Bella...it's just, you kept saying he was going to get you and it worried me; I don't want you to feel like you're not safe," he explained, concerned filling his eyes.

"It was just a dream." She answered though even Edward didn't believe her words. He knew better.

"Can I ask one more thing?" he asked, eyes searching hers to see how she would react if and when he would ask his next question. Hesitantly, she nodded her head, allowing him to continue.

"They dont have anything to do with that creep that showed up at school, do they?" Bella sat, frozen. How could he know that? she thought. She knew Alice didn't say anything to him so what would make him assume her problems all revolved around Jacob Black. Her silence and stiffness gave Edward the answer he was looking for. "I see," he said.

"Edward..." Bella started but he stopped her before she could say anything else.

"Bella, wait...before you say anything. I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing this information out of you...I care about you so seeing you so shaken up has me more worried more than you can possibly imagine..and after seeing how you reacted when that dog showed up at school, it just..." Edward stopped to find the words. "I don't know what is or went on with you two, but I don't like him at all Bella, he's not a good guy. So, I hope you don't mind if I act a little protective over you if I ever see him try to get close to you..." Bella was in awe. She knew she couldn't tell Edward what had really happened but at least now, through his own observations, Edward suspected something was off with Jacob and he wouldn't let anything happen to her. She was sure of it. She couldn't resist the urge to hug Edward for what he had said. Within a minute of him saying those words, she was off her chair and hugging him, which caught him off guard. He knew how Bella was about contact...so it through him off that she, on her own accord, had decided to hug him. He didn't need to think twice before he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as she would allow.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear before she pulled away. She couldn't help but smile at him which of course, caused him to smile in return. He finally felt like Bella didn't completely hate him, but could also understand that her wanting Alice was nothing against him; she just wasn't ready to tell him every detail about her past but one day..he was hopeful they would reach that point.

"I'll see you tonight?" she asked, hopeful that he hadn't changed his mind about dinner.

"Of course...we've got plans remember?" he teased, unable to hide how much the relief had changed his mood. Bella smiled and nodded right before heading back into the house where a very annoyed Alice stood with her arms crossed, waiting.

"It's about time Bella," Alice whined and reached for the car keys.

"I'm sorry about that Alice...but I can make it up to you..." Bella offered. Of course, Alice wasn't able to resist what Bella had in mind.

"How?" Alice asked, eager for Bella to tell her.

"Well, I'm going to need help finding an outfit to where for dinner tonight with Edward...I can put you in charge of that..." Bella told her. Instantly, Alice was jumping up and down in excitement. For one reason, she was being allowed to have full say in what Bella wore which meant she could get Bella out of the baggy clothes she hated so much. Secondly, Bella and Edward were going out tonight which, now that the bet was over, made her excited for both of them. It was something they both needed; they were perfect for each other.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun!" Alice exclaimed, nearly tripping over her feet in all her excitement.

"Take it easy Alice...people with two left feet tend to be a danger to others.." Emmett teased as he and Rosalie walked into the living room to take a seat on the couch. Edward had just walked back in from the balcony, keeping his eyes on Bella the entire time.

"I do not have two left feet!" she whined, crossing her arms. She wasn't happy that Emmett was ruining her good mood.

"Sure you don't, that's why you almost tripped over yourself just now..." he continued.

"Emmett she's just excited," Bella answered, trying her best to surpress her own need to laugh at the site. Bella noticed Rosalie sitting there with her nose in a magazine with an annoyed grin on her face, as though Bella's presence bothered her but she brushed it off.

"Yea, we're going shopping!"Alice's act of being upset with Emmett instantly faded and she was already back to her bubbly, over excited self.

"We better go," Bella suggested as she noticed the time; she wanted to be back with plenty of time to get ready for her night out with Edward. Even though he agreed to them going as friends, she was having more and more difficulty keeping her feelings for him bottled up.

"Good luck Bella!" Emmett called after her as they began to head out. "You'll need it!"

"Bye Bella..." Edward called to her as she and Alice turned the corner for the front door. She turned back and smiled at him, only to be tugged by the arm by Alice, who wasn't in the mood for anymore distractions. Shopping was her mission and no one was going to continue distracting her from it.

Five hours later, the two were finally headed back to the Cullen house. Alice, bummed because she wasn't ready to be done while Bella was exhausted and had had enough. She had no idea what she was in for when she had agreed to go on this trip...Emmett was right. She needed that luck. The car was nearly filled with shopping bags, half for Alice and unfortunately half for Bella who now had clothes which Alice picked out for her. Alice's goal with Bella's wardrobe was to incorporate more color into her life; black was over and done with, according to Alice. Though, secretly Bella was able to get a few black tops passed Alice's radar. She wondered just how bad Alice's response would be if and when she found out about those tops...Bella sighed at the thought and shook her head to herself. Alice was unbelievable but she wouldn't change her one bit.

Picking out Bella's dinner outfit had been interesting to say the least; they constantly would bud heads when it came to what the outift should look like. Alice wanted color, lots of color, high heels, knee length dresses or skirts, form fitting tops..the works. Completely opposite to how Bella had been when it came to dressing herself up. She refused to wear such revealing clothes; it reminded her too much of how she dressed back then...when her own outfit choices and friendliness had driven Jacob to doing what he did. She didn't want to draw in too much attention. She agreed on the skinny jeans Alice had picked out and the occassional knee-length skirt or two but anything too short was out of the question. Her dinner outfit, however, was non negotiable considering Bella had given Alice full reign over it. Alice had picked out a midnight blue slightly ruched, strapless dress with a sweet heart top, which went just a bit above the knees, already making Bella uncomfortable. It did, however have one shoulder strap with a beautiful floral pattern though the fact that it was so open made Bella regret giving Alice permission to dress her. Again, going against what Bella preferred, Alice picked out silver 3 in heels. When Bella tried to protest Alice told her she was lucky she wasn't going to be stuck wearing backless heels...Bella instantly stopped protesting and let Alice do the work. She hoped she would be able to get comfortable wearing all of that...

"So are you excited?" Alice asked, peering over in Bella's direction as she drove the two back to the house.

"About going to dinner with Edward or wearing that outfit?" Bella asked, smirking at Alice.

"Both.."Alice answered, slightly surprised.

"I'm feeling alittle anxious for the dinner but mortified for having to wear that outfit, to be honest," Bella looked away, not wanting to see the reaction her answer would cause in Alice

"Bella, you're going to look amazing in that dress..it fits you so well! I don't understand your problem with dressing to fit your body..you can't hide your amazing figure with all that baggy clothes forever..." she complained.

"Alice, there's much more to it than that," Bella told her, hoping she would understand.

"Well then tell me.." she persisted.

"You already know..." Bella said in almost a whisper.

"Oh.." Alice felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. Of course she knew why Bella didn't show off her body...she didn't want to draw attention to herself, especially after what happened to her. "Bella I'm so sorry...maybe we can piece together a different outfit from all the things we got...something not so short and all..."

"It's ok Alice...the dress is really pretty," She tried to reassure Alice. She didn't want to make Alice feel bad now and that's exactly what ended up happening.

"Are you sure Bella?" Alice glanced over to look at Bella right before she made a left turn.

"Yea...I'll be with Edward..I think I'll be ok.." Bella said, remembering the words he had said to her just before she left. She had a feeling that the sense of comfort she felt around him would make her forget how uncomfortable she would be in the outfit..and then she remembered one aspect of the outfit she had completely forgotten about; her wristbands. "Um..Alice we may have problem..." Bella told her.

"What's the problem?" Alice asked, unable to find what could be a problem considering she had picked most of Bella's new wardrobe.

"My wristbands don't exactly go with the dress...and I can't not wear them.." Bella admitted, ashamed once again that they were there as the nasty reminders of just how troubled she was.

"Oh, them? That's not a problem Bella..I'm already ahead of you," Alice smiled at her, proud that she already took care of something Bella had forgotten about.

"How is it not a problem?" Bella asked, confused.

"Because I bought you a whole new set of wristbands! All to match your outfits so even though wearing a dress with wristbands is already a bit wierd, who says you can't do it with style.." Alice exclaimed, proud of her idea. Bella laughed at what Alice had said; she really did think of everything.

"Thanks Alice," she told her; what she meant was the she was thankful for everything Alice had done for her thus far.

Ten minutes later, they finally arrived at the house and managed to unload all of the bags without mixing them up by themselves. The house appeared to be pretty empty, which made both girls wonder where they all could have gone. Alice found a note left on the table from her parents explaining they both got called into work and Emmett went out with Rosalie. So that left the unknown whereabouts of Edward. Trying not to think about where he could be, Bella followed Alice up the stairs to set the bags down. Not a minute later, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Alice called out.

"It's Edward, may I come in?" he asked.

"Sure, sure" she answered and continued sorting through her new clothes.

"Alice, Jasper's on the phone for you..he's been trying to get ahold of you," Edward told her. She instantly dropped her clothes and ran out the door to answer the phone. Tonight was a perfect night for them to go out and she couldn't wait to share with him how close she and Bella had become. Edward and Bell both laughed as Alice ran out the door, leaving the two alone.

"So, you two definitely made good use of your time," he said as he noticed all the bags scattered across the floor.

"Yea, Emmett wasn't kidding when he said I'd need luck going shopping with her," She chuckled.

"Was it really painful for you?" He asked, trying not to laugh though he already knew what it was like shopping with Alice.

"I wouldn't use painful to describe it..interesting is more appropriate." What she wanted to say, was that she had already endured more pain that what she experienced with Alice. She'd choose shopping over what happened to her any day of the week.

"As long as you had a good time, then I'm glad," Edward told her.

"I did, I even have a new outfit for tonight," Bella told him, trying desperately not to blush.

"I suppose asking to take a peek at it would be out of the question.." Edward suggested, wanting to see her outfit so that he didn't feel like an idiot when he dressed up nice to the fancy restaurant he was taking her to.

"It is, but only because Alice would probably have my head if I showed it to you," Bella told him. He laughed because he knew how true that statement was. Alice would have both their heads for that.

"Do I get any hints?" he persisted.

"It's a dress, it's blue and she has me in heels...that's all you get," she giggled. Bella was surprised at herself and how easy talking it was with Edward, yet again. This was the third time she felt so at ease and less guarded while being with first time, yes she had forced her walls back up and tried to run but she couldn't do that now. That safe feeling she had with him was a feeling she missed and hadn't experienced in what felt like forever.

"Well I'm sure you're going to look amazing in it.." Edward smiled at her and she could'nt help but smile back. Before either could say anything else, Alice charged back into the room, shooing Edward out of the room so that she could have the rest of the time getting Bella ready for the date..

"Bella you are going to look amazing on this date!" Alice exclaimed in excitment.

"It's not a date..." Bella insisted. She had agreed on the conditions that it wouldn't be anything she didn't want it to be and at the time, she didn't want it to be a date. She was pushing him away but now, she secretly was wishing she hadn't told him they'd go as friends. But was she ready for a relationship when she couldn't get passed everything that happened? When she couldn't even get the courage to tell Edward what he was getting himself into? She sat there, as Alice started working what she referred to as her "magic" thinking of whether or not she could tell Edward. Was she ready to tell someone else? Could she really put Edward at risk that way? There were so many thoughts and concerns swimming in her mind and she struggled with the answers. One way or another, Bella intended on figuring out what her plan would be...she had to.

**A/N: hey all..so if you're reading the story and are enjoying it...please review it! I enjoy hearing feedback...positive or negative...don't hesitate..**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 8

EPOV

Alice had Bella locked away in her bedroom for hours ever since they came back from their five hour shopping trip. While Edward understood Alice's need to make everyone she possibly could her barbie doll, he wasn't happy with the amount of time she was taking away from him. She already had her for five hours..wasn't that enough? he thought to himself as he sat out on the balcony. He figured staying outside of the house would make him less tempted of going upstairs and breaking Alice's door down to save Bella from what Alice was currently putting her through. Knowing, of course how upset Carlisle and Esme would be if they had to replace a door, he just chose to stay away. This time outside had its own perks though. It gave him the perfect time to think and make sure he had everything in order for his date...or friendly outing with Bella. She had agreed to going out with him if it was purely as friends. As much as he didn't like that, he was following at her own pace. However, ever since the talk they had earlier she seemed to have dropped her walls around him or at least was trying not to be as guarded. Edward hoped he wasn't imagining this difference in Bella. He was hoping, secretly, that she did want this dinner to be a date. And because of this hope, he planned a very special evening for her.

So there he was, trying desperately hard to resist going up to see Bella. He thought over the last conversation he had had with Bella; specially about her nightmares. He couldn't believe he was right. He didn't know what about exactly, but he knew whatever Jacob did to her had caused her nightmares. This made Edward feel completely helpless. He knew it would be easy to protect her from him but how could he protect her from a nightmare? There was nothing he could do if this creep was ruling her dreams.

Edward had been so deep in thought about Bella and this Jacob that he didn't notice Emmett and Jasper come out onto the balcony.

"Hey Eddie," Emmett said with a smirk, waiting for Edward to scold him for using the nickname he hated so much. But Edward once again said nothing. He just looked at both of them, slightly upset for the disturbance but it was the perfect time to discuss this Jacob character with both of them.

"Emmett, Jasper.." Edward addressed them as a way of acknowledging their presence.

"What are you doing out here?"Jasper asked.

"Just thinking," Edward answered.

"Yea, but why here? You can do the same thinking in the house," Emmett pushed, knowing there was more to his isolation.

"If you must know Emmett, I chose to be out here because otherwise I may give in to breaking Alice's door down," Edward became very annoyed with Emmett. He hated when he became persistant; he knew him too well. If he had continued ignoring his question, it would've egged Emmett on even more.

"You do realize Alice would literally have your head if you did that right?" Jasper answered and he tried to stiffle a laugh.

"I'm not too worried about Alice right now," Edward snapped back.

"Ohh, I see what this is about," Emmett started. "Eddie wants Bella all to himself and Alice is standing in his way...awww," Emmett teased. Edward didn't say anything. He just glared at Emmett. What could he say? Emmett, once again was spot on.

"So I guess the bet is going according to plan?" Jasper asked, lowering his voice so no one else would hear.

"There is no bet," Edward said and looked away.

"Yea, we discussed it last night. Eddie's in love and is worried about Bella's safety; no bet." Emmett added.

"Wait..her safety? And he's in love with her? I feel like I missed a lot not staying over here last night," Jasper sat, trying to figure everything out. He was thankful though. Now he didn't need to hear Alice go off on her rants about how immature and annoying Edward was for not listening to her about the bet. I guess she finally got her way, yet again.

"Yea, Edward suspects that creep we saw on the bike isn't a good guy. He thinks Bella's afraid of him," Emmett informed Jasper. "As for him loving her, yea since always; he's just in the process of admitting it to himself. Why do you think I picked her?" Emmett wagged his eye brows up and down, thinking he was some hot shot match maker.

"I don't think she's afraid, I know for a fact she is. She had a nightmare last night; Jacob had the leading role," Edward said the last part through his teeth.

"Oh," was all Emmett could say. He was surprised and confused as to why Bella was so afraid of this guy to the point that he was giving her nightmares. He may not have been friends with her for long, but he was not about to let this creep get to her.

"I don't understand, why is she so afraid of him?" Jasper, too, was confused.

"That's what I want to know...I think Alice already does but I want Bella to trust me enough to tell me herself," it bothered Edward more that he had the feeling that no matter how hard he tried, Bella would never trust him enough to tell him what had went on with Jacob.

"Any thoughts?" Emmett asked. He, himself, was thinking of different things that could have happened.

"A few...but for some reason I think that anything I come up with, it's worse." He told himself that if he did find out and if it was worse, Jacob Black would regret ever messing with Bella.

"Maybe they dated and he broke her heart?" Jasper thought out loud.

"Yea, maybe he cheated on her or something..." Emmett continued the thought.

"Do you two honestly think him cheating on her would result in her being so terrified of him? I would think she'd be angry with him, not afraid..." Edward had already thought of this possibility and no matter how many times it crossed his mind, it never seemed to make sense.

"Good point," Emmett said, disappointed.

"The only other thing I could come up with that would make her scared of him is if he was abusive..."Jasper thought over. Edward instantly clenched his fists; that theory could make sense but for some reason, it felt much more than that.

"Well..there is one other way, but I wouldn't put it on the list of possibilities," Emmett said. Whatever he had thought, he instantly regretted because now neither Edward nor Jasper would let him get away with the silence.

"What is it?" Edward asked, not sure if he wanted to entertain an idea worse than an abusive relationship.

"What do you think would be worse then abuse Edward..."Emmett said, trying to hint his theory. A theory he hoped wasn't true. The three sat looking at each other, silently trying to figure out if they were on the same page as the other.

"You don't think he...you know...do you?" Jasper asked. Edward had now been gripping the arm of his chair so hard that his knuckles were turning white. Both Jasper and Emmett noticed.

"Edward...I'm sure we're wrong. It's just a theory, remember?" Emmett tried talking him down.

"Yea, Edward try not to listen to us...just wait until Bella tells you what it is yourself.." Jasper added. Though no matter how much they tried to calm Edward down, Edward was unable to put that last theory out of his mind. He hoped with every fiber of his being that it was not true. What if it was though? This theory...if it was true...would explain everything about Bella's behavior. That slime ball would have taken all the life from her, from a young, beautiful, fragile girl. It made too much sense for him to just let it go...and Alice's need to make sure Bella wasn't home alone at any time? It all fit...could it really be true. If it was, then that's what it would be. He thought to himself. None of what may have happened to Bella was her fault; Jacob, however, he would pay for it.

"Edward?" Emmett asked, trying to get his attention.

"Like I said," Edward started to say. "I'm going to wait until she trusts me enough to tell me herself." The two nodded their heads in understanding. "For now, just act like nothing's changed. We don't want her to feel more uncomfortable than she already probably does."

"In the meantime..we'll keep an eye out for that creep," Emmett said as he stood up. "We're not going to let him get anywhere near her Edward." Jasper stood up as well, following Emmett back into the house. The two were already putting together a plan to keep Bella safe from Jacob.

Edward was far from ok. He did not expect, after having talked to his brother and best friend, that he would now have theory which seemed to make so much sense; a theory he hoped was not true. The idea of Bella and Jacob simply dating bothered Edward already; the thought of Jacob taking advantage of Bella against her will...that made things so much worse. Sitting outside to keep a clear head seemed impossible. Edward looked at his watch. He had three hours until his and Bella's "date"; he decided taking an hour long nap would suffice. It was the only way he could clear his head and make it seem like nothing is wrong while he's out with Bella. Before heading to his room, he stopped in the kitchen to make sure everything he prepared for their date had been ready. He then went upstairs, stopping at Alice's door before going to his own room. He stood there,staring at the door thinking of Bella. He wanted more than anything to be in their with her; holding her,making sure she was safe. Being under the same roof wasn't enough any more; he needed to be with her; he needed to feel her touch under his skin. It would be the true thing that kept him calm; that would keep him rational. Reluctantly-knowing Alice would rip his head off-he knocked on the door, waiting for Alice to answer it. Instead, it was Bella. Even though she had not been completely dressed in her outfit for tonight; she was still in progress of her make over. She looked beautiful. Alice had made Bella's hair stay in its natural state. It layed gracefully to her waist with natural waves; very few curls were added to top off the look. Her make-up had been recently finished; it was very natural and brought out her chocolate brown eyes. Alice truly did an amazing job. One look at Edward and Bella was already blushing. She wasn't used to feeling this way; she thought it would never happen..that no one would want her. She reminded herself that Edward did not know the truth. If he did, he would run the other way. She was sure of it. The smile on her face turned faint as she thought of him running away from her if he knew and the nervousness returned in the pit of the stomach. She quickly stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

"Edward..." Bella said, glancing down at her feet. She felt uneasy and slightly afraid of him cancelling on her. He couldn't help but smile at her; he hadn't expected Bella to be the one at the door. He was even happier that it was Bella; simply seeing her put all thoughts at the back of his mind. All that mattered was this moment he had.

"Bella," he said as he considered whether it would be ok if he reached out to her. "I didn't expect you to be answering the door."

"Oh," the smile on her face faded as she thought he wasn't happy to see her. "I can go get Alice for you." She was about to turn back and open the bedroom door when he gently took her hand. This time, she didn't pull away. She missed that feeling which overcame her each time Edward would touch her.

"No...it was a pleasant surprise; I didn't think Alice would let you open it at the risk of me seeing you..." Edward assured her, slowly taking a step closer to her but still keeping a good distance.

"Well she's using the bathroom...so I guess I used the time to escape, at least for a few minutes," she laughed. "Is everything ok?" She picked up on Edward's edgy mood which made her worry. She didn't want Edward to feel bad about anything, though she couldn't figure out what would have him upset.

"It is now that I'm with you," he smiled at her and instantly she blushed. Reflexively, his other hand moved to her cheek; he stroked her cheek with his thumb before cupping her face in his hand. He wanted so badly to close the gap between them though worried about how she would feel at this sudden contact. Much to his surprise, Bella was the one who closed the gap. The pull she had felt towards him was something she simply could not resist; she had to be with him. For a moment, Edward considered leaning in and kissing her; this was in fact the perfect time for it. Without much control over his actions, he started to tilt his head, giving Bella enough time to react but she didn't need it. She continued leaning closer to him, tilting her head in return; the two had so little space between them that they could feel their lips starting to finally touch.

"There you are!" Alice shouted, breaking the moment Edward and Bella had just shared. Instantly yet reluctantly, Bella moved away and looked at Alice, not hiding the frustration she was feeling. "Don't you give me that luck! You were not supposed to leave the room! And you..." she pointed her finger angrily at Edward. "You were about to ruin her make up! Go away!" Alice took Bella by her free hand as the other was still intertwined with Edward's and pulled her back into the room.

"Sorry!" Bella called after Edward just as Alice slammed the door in his face. He was suddenly look forward to that night more than he had already been; he thought that would be impossible but he was very wrong. He had no doubt in the feeling Bella had for him; they were there and she was starting to have more trouble than she thought to hide them. Even if she needed to keep herself guarded, he was still willing to be with her. He couldn't stand to be apart from her, not anymore...

BPOV

Alice dragged Bella back into her room, refusing to let go of her until she had Bella back in the chair. Even though Bella complied willingly, she didn't want to be in Alice's room. Not after feeling the overwhelming emotions she had just felt with Edward. She wanted to be with him and never leave his side. The electicity between them had been stronger than ever before, then again that was the closest Bella had allowed herself to get to Edward without being so scared that she felt she needed to pull away. It was the first time she did not want to put her walls back up to keep him at arms length. She found herself more excited for the night that she had been originally.

"Bella, do you know how close you came from ruining your make up?" Alice exclaimed angrily. She was so angry that Bella had come close to ruining all of Alice's hard work.

"Sorry," Bella mumbled, still remembering how close she came to kissing Edward.

"No you're not!" Alice whined. "Why do all this if you're going to mess it up before you even go out on your date?" Alice crossed her arms.

"I am sorry Alice, I just couldn't help it..." Bella answered, reluctant to admit this. She had been trying so hard to keep her feelings for Edward in check, yet within an instant she failed. Though a large part of her didn't care that she failed; she wanted to fail. "I felt so drawn to him that I couldn't help but be drawn in..." Bella looked down, more disappointed in her resolve.

"I forgive you...luckily I got there in time anyway," Alice uncrossed her arms and went back to work. "So what'd he want?" she asked.

"I honestly don't know..he never said," Bella answered.

"I see..." Alice answered, not paying much attention to Edward's visit. It bothered her more that he ended up seeing most of Bella's look for the night but it was ok. The dress would be the cherry on top.

"Alice, I'm starting to get really nervous about tonight..." Bella admitted.

"Bella if you really need me to, I'll change the outfit," Alice said, slightly annoyed. She had already planned her hair and make up to go with the dress perfectly.

"No, it's not the dress...I can suck it up for one night," Bella answered, already knowing Alice's true position on it.

"Ok, then what's up?" Alice stopped for a few moments and took a seat next to Bella, feelng major girl talk may be in order.

"I just...the more I'm around Edward, the less I'm able to make myself keep my feelings in check," Bella admitted.

"But isn't that a good thing? If you feel so strongly for him, why try to hide those feelings from yourself?" Alice was confused. This was a perfect opportunity for Bella to feel again and Edward was the perfect guy for her. If stupid Jacob hadn't messed with her the way he did, Bella and Edward could have been together years ago.

"I don't want to get hurt...trusting people..letting them in, I made that mistake with Jacob and look where it got me. I'm afraid of history repeating itself," she knew Edward was different; but the incident left her broken and fixing up the pieces just wouldn't be that simple.

"Bella, you forget one thing," Alice began to explain as Bella looked into her eyes questioning. "Edward is not Jacob. If there was anyone to take that risk with...to put your entire faith in..it's Edward and with how he feels about you, Bella you have nothing to worry about. You're not in this alone anymore," Alice leaned in to hug Bella, though she approached her with caution so that Bella wasn't taken off guard; she didn't pull away or stiffen at the contact this time. She knew it was Alice; she knew she was safe.

"Alice, he knows there's something not right with Jacob...he's more observant that I had expected..." Bella started as she pulled back to look at Alice.

"That's Edward for you...I swear if he could read minds it would explain so much," she said, shaking her head. "So he knows about Jacob..but not what he did, right?"

"Right...he just knows about me having a nightmare about him and that I'm afraid of him; he paid too much attention to my reactions that day in the lot," Bella told her.

"Do you want to tell him all of it?" Alice asked her, curious.

"Alice, I was terrified even having you know. It was too risky to tell you...I can't imagine how bad things will be if he knew too..." fear was now evident in Bella's eyes as she imagine the consequences that would and could come of it.

"Bella, here's my advice...you can't hide something if you want to be with someone. You, however, have an exception and deserve the time to become comfortable enough to share with Edward what Jacob did to you; Edward understands that and wouldn't push you to tell him anything even though I think he should know at some point...as far as worrying about our safety goes, you need to stop worrying about us. We're going to be fine and so are you because we are all going to keep you safe from that creep, ok?" Alice took Bella's hands in hers, searching in Bella's eyes if she understood. Bella nodded her head, defeated. "So, if you feel comfortable enough to tell Edward, tell him. It may be tonight, 6 months from now, a year from now...when you feel it's right, then tell him."

"Thanks Alice," Bella smiled at her, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off the shoulder. She realized it was ok to have the feelings she had for Edward; it was ok to finally try to start living her life instead of hiding from everything. She couldn't let Jacob rule her life. No matter how hard it was going to be to move on, Bella was determined to start slowly picking up the pieces which Jacob had caused. She could no longer let him win.

Two hours later, Bella was fully ready for the date-dress, hair, heels and all. She stood looking at herself in the mirror, surprised by the reflection of the girl staring back at her. She was gorgeous, so full of life; a perfect mask, Bella thought.

"Do you think Edward will like it?" Bella asked, hopeful.

"No," Alice told her and instantly the excitement began to fade. "Relax Bella, he's going to love it!"

"Don't do that," Bella laughed, knowing she needed to not take things so seriously. Tonight was a night of opportunity to move on..or start trying to. A knock came from the door and Alice ran over to answer it, though not opening it all the way. It was Edward, who had been completely dressed in a suit with a midnight blue button up underneath the jacket; he had coordinated with Bella's outfit.

"Yes?" Alice exclaimed, unable to hide her excitement.

"Alice, I've come to save Bella from your craziness...is she almost ready?" Edward asked, hopefull that he could finally steal Bella away.

"She'll be right down," Alice told him as she stared his outfit up and down. She pouted. "How'd you know what color to wear?" He didn't answer; instead he tried surpressing his laugh. "Bella! You told him the color of your dress?" She complained and closed the door in his face. Alice looked at Bella, who couldn't help but laugh.

"Alice, I never told him I was wearing a dress..or any specifics on the shade of blue," Bella laughed. It had been Alice who had given away too much just then.

"Whatever, it's over with I suppose...we should get you downstairs, he's waiting for you," Alice said as she bounced up and down in excitement.

"Here it goes..." Bella took a deep breath just before turning the door knob and stepping into the hall; Alice wasn't too far behind.

"Be careful in going down those steps!" Alice whispered behind her as reminder. Bella nodded her head and grabbed on to the railing as she slowly made her way down the stairs, reminding herself to breathe.

"Woah, Eddie check out your girl," Emmett teased. He had been seated on the couch keeping Edward company along with Jasper and Rosalie, who didn't seem too interested in what was going on around her. Within an instant, Edward was there at the bottom of the stairs holding a single red rose and wearing the most breath taking smile Bella had ever seen; she had almost forgotten to breathe when she saw how his face lit up to see her as she descended down the stairs.

"Bella...you look beautiful, there aren't enough words to describe how amazing you look tonight," Edward said as he stepped closer to her and offered her the rose. She nervously yet excitedly accepted, unable to hide the blush she now had because of his compliment.

"Thank you..." she answered, her voice almost in a whisper. She looked into his eyes, which were lit with excitment and happiness. That same electricity had been starting to develop between them, which brought the need to be closer to Edward. They had been standing so close now that they had forgotten everybody else who had been in the room until Emmett cleared his throat, bringing them back to reality.

"So where are you two off to for the evening?" Rosalie asked, feigning interest.

"It's a surprise," Edward answered without taking his eyes off of Bella. "We should get going, we're going to be late," he extended his hand out to hers, waiting to see if she would take it. Thankfully, she did and nodded her head in agreement. Edward grabbed basket which was placed by the door and opened it for Bella.

"Have fun you two!" Emmett exclaimed, just before Edward slammed it shut, obviously annoyed with Emmett and his inuendos.

Edward opened the door for Bella and waited until she was comfortable before closing it behind her and making his way over to the driver's seat. He slid in, started his car and backed out of the drive way, happy to finally have Bella away from Alice. He had been waiting for his chance to allow him to gain her trust that he was almost surprised the night was finally here.

"So," Bella started, feeling a little nervous. "where are we going?" she asked him, only to see that adorable crooked smile form on his face.

"Like I said, it's a surprise," he told her. Bella really didn't like surprises, considering her past and all. She liked to be fully aware of what was going on around her, which is what made her become so aware of her surroundings. She felt, for the first time since the incident, in the dark about what to expect. Edward noticed as Bella's brows furrowed, indicating something was worrying her. "Bella, what is it?" he asked, concerned he had already done something wrong.

"It's nothing...I'm just not big on surprises," she admitted. He looked at her for a second and nodded in understanding. As much as he wanted to keep everything a surprise, he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable.

"We're going to a restaurant called La Bella Italia, but if it's alright with you, I'd like to keep the rest of the evening a surprise...I promise you'll be safe with me," he assured her. There were some aspects that needed to be kept a surprise, otherwise, where was the enjoyment in seeing her face light up? She smiled at him, the nerves starting to pass.

"Thank you Edward," she told him. Conversation seemed to flow easily, or as easily as Bella would allow as they drove to the restaurant. Edward was cautious enough to pay attention to the way Bella would react towards different things; pushing topics was already on the list of don'ts for him...he couldn't gain her trust that way. So he kept it simple and tried his best not to remind her of the past. He did notice, however-thanks to all the time he had spent watching her around school-that tonight was the first time she was as happy as she was; she was like this once but it had been so long that it seemed like such distant memory. He was determined to always keep her happy.

"We're here," Edward told her as he parked the car. A second later, he was out of the car and opening the door for Bella, taking her hand gently in his. "Ready?" she nodded her head though wanted to say she was as ready as she'll ever be. She was ready. She was ready to start trying to live her life.

Dinner had gone extremely well, though Edward had noticed at times Bella start to get nervous and at other times, want to surpress laughter. He didn't understand why though. On the next part of the evening, he was determined to ask her and he hoped it wouldn't men he was pushing her for informtion. Edward couldn't remember the last time he was this happy; he felt so comfortable and at ease being himself around Bella. No girl he had ever dated had made him feel this way; he was always so limited. Yet here he was, with Bella who kept herself slightly guarded-though less guarded than usual-and he felt as though life couldn't get much better than what he was developing with Bella.

"So are you going to tell me where we're going next?" Bella giggled. She had been having such an amazing time with Edward; she was unable to find any reason to regret agreeing to going out with him or find a reason she should keep her guard up around him. He was funny, sweet, sincere, understanding...he was perfect. He was everything she needed and she could sense it. The amount of comfort she had with him was like no other feeling; it was exhilerating. It was as though for the first time in so long, she could actually breathe and not have to constantly look over her shoulder.

"No chance," he laughed, seeing Bella was still enjoying her time even though she was in the dark about where they were going next.

"I wish you would tell me..." she insisted, pouting her lip hoping it would work on him. It almost did, though he would never admit how close he came to giving up their destination.

"No need," he answered, trying not to laugh as he saw her feign disappointment. "We're already here," he told her as he got out of the car and came around to let her out. She wasn't so sure where he was exactly, for it had been dark which made her worry. Was she out in the middle of no where...where it was completely dark...and no one would know what would happen to her? She instantly fought of the silly thoughts. If it were anybody else, she would begin to panic, but she was with Edward. She knew she was safe; she had to believe it. Once again, she took his hand. Before proceeding any further, he took a basket out of the backseat and a flashlight, to help guide them to where they were expected to go. "Come with me," he told her; she tightened her grip on his hand and followed as he led her through the dark. The flashlight had made it easy to see where they were going though at first, she was confused. There was nothing around them but trees. "Watch your step," he told her and she became more aware of all the branches and roots from the trees which were sticking out from the ground. She was about to ask him what was going on when they entered a clear, open field which had been illuminated by white sparkling lights that were wrapped around an abandoned white gazebo. The gazebo had been overlooking a pond which looked amazing under the moon light. Bella was speech less.

"Edward...this is...amazing!" She struggled to find the words to describe how beautiful this place was. No one had ever gone out of their way to do something like this for her. As they approached the gazebo, she noted the place had been especially prepared for the two of them. Blankets were spread across the floor with a portable fireplace already going to keep them warm in case someone got cold.

"Still hate surprises?" he asked her as he helped her take a seat. Out of the basket he took out another blanket so that Bella could cover her legs-a way to make her not feel uncomfortable sitting in such a short dress and placed a variety of home made sweets for the two to have. Obviously the two couldn't drink since they were under age, so instead he took out sparkling cider to give off the illusion.

"Not when they're from you," Bella admitted and she took the cup of cider Edward had poured for her. "Edward...no one's ever done any of this for me before. It's the best first date I could've ever imagined.." She tried to find the words to thank him, to let him know how much this all meant to her. He looked up at her, fighting a smile.

"So it is a date?" his smile grew wider. It made him happy that she had called it a date when originally had been two friends getting dinner.

"Yes, its the perfect date Edward," she looked down at her hands. She was giving herself time to sink everything in. She would use all these amazing memories with Edward to fight away the nightmares, even if this was all she would have with him.

"Bella...I've never orchestrated this type of date before, to be honest. I've always kept it simple; dinner, movie, end. No one's ever inspired me the way you do," he began. "I don't want to scare you with any of this but the way I feel about you, I can't deny it anymore. I know there are things going on in your life; things you aren't able to explain to me just yet but I hope, one day, you can trust me to know you're safe with me and can tell me anything..." Edward realizied in this moment just how right Emmett had been. Edward was in love with Bella, but feared telling her the extent of his feelings. She took a deep breath before answering.

"Edward..I already feel like I could tell you anything,"she started, unable to hide her nervousness. Edward took her hand into his to comfort her, to let her know she was safe here. "That feeling alone scares me. I've become so accustomed to shutting people out...to keep myself from trustiing them as a way of not getting hurt again; a way to stay away from reliving my fears. Around you, I feel again. I want more than what I've allowed my life to become the last few years...I never thought it possible to feel this; never knew it was something I'd want to feel...I'm just so scared," Edward moved closer to her, thankful she wasn't moving away. He didn't want her to be afraid. He wanted to understand what it was that caused her to feel this way for so long.

"You don't have to be afraid," he whispered to her, staring her intensely into her eyes.

"You're wrong...I do," she told him. He didn't understand why though.

"What is there to be afraid of?" He wanted desperately to understand what she was talking about; what kept her from fulling letting down her guard. She looked around where they sat as though to make sure they were truly alone and had not been followed. Even so, she kept her voice low.

"I've already made the mistake of telling Alice something she shouldn't know; now she wants to stay at my house, have me stay at yours...her being at my house alone with me and having her know what she knows automatically puts her in harms way and I couldn't live with myself if something were to happen to Alice...think of how bad it would be if you knew...you of all people.."she shook her head, trying so much to fight the thoughts creeping their way into her mind.

"Bella, why is it so dangerous for her? For me?' Edward asked, knowing he was pushing but he just couldnt' understand why she was so worried about everyone else but not taking her own safety into account.

"For her because she simply knows...and no one was supposed to know, ever. And you, because he knows you now..."Bella's grip tightened on Edward's hand.

"You mean Jacob Black..."he continued.

"Yes," she said, keeping her voice low.

"Bella, you can tell me anything...if you don't want to tell me what he did to you, I'll understand. Either way, he will not get to you, or Alice or me. I'll keep you safe," It was important to him that she believed him. As Bella stared into his eyes, she was overcome with an overwhelming feeling she just could not ignore. This was the moment for her to tell him the whole truth. But first, she leaned in and kissed him, ever so gently on the lips, not sure of how her body would react to this. Edward was taken back but did not resist; he kissed her back; his other hand moved slowly to cup her face and keep her there with him. The kissed was filled with passion, desire, want, need...everything it needed for it to make it that much harder to let it go. The electricity flared out of control but it was tolerable; Edward knew to keep everything gentle and within Bella's comfort. Reluctantly, he was the one who pulled away, worried Bella would regret the choice she had made. "What was that for?" Edward asked, over come with so much happiness that he couldn't hide it in his smile. He had never felt anything like that for anyone else. Bella was it for him.

"I just needed to do that..in case I didn't get the chance again," she admitted.

"What are you talking about Bella?" He asked, voice full of concern.

"In case I tell you and you feel like you don't want me after knowing the truth...I'll understand if you don't want to be with me," she looked down but he didn't let her. With his finger, he lifted her face by the chin so she would look at him. He needed for her to hear him.

"I am not going anywhere Bella...no matter what it is, I'll always be there for you," he insisted. She took a deep breath before she confessed to him what really happened with Jacob.

"So obviously you know it has something to do with Jacob Black," she started. He nodded his head, allowing her to continue uninterrupted. "In case the thought crossed your mind, he and I never dated. That thought never once crossed my mind. His father is best friend's with my father; has been for as long as I can remember. That's how I first met my mom moved out...things definitely changed around the house. My dad started working more and more; it was rare for him to be at the house at night. I was usually left alone, which was fine. Jacob and I became best friends; he was really there for me when my mom left; I trusted him I never typically did. I kept information private; but he pushed for that information," Bella paused to make sure she had her strength together and if Edward was following along. He nodded for her to continue. "About four years ago, going on five now my dad had case he was working on that called for him to work late; so he wasn't coming back. Jacob came over that night to keep me company; we watched a movie which is something we did a lot. It wasn't anything new. Everything was fine though he seemed...different. Angrier. I noticed that change in his attitude ever since I told him who I had feelings for. After that time, he became a monster. That night, he kissed me but I didn't feel that way for him; we were friends. So I pushed him away trying to explain how I felt towards him. He wouldn't listen to me and kept trying to push for me to kiss him. I asked him to leave..." Bella stopped, trying to keep herself together. Edward moved closer to her, feeling it better to not touch her in any way that would scare her during a time like this. He already knew where she was headed with this story. It was exactly what he had feared. He tried so hard to control the anger which had began to build towards Jacob Black; he wanted to rip him apart.

"It's ok Bella, you're safe here with me...you can tell me," Edward assured her. She was just surprised he was taking it so well.

"I insisted for him to leave so many times..he just wouldn't listen. He wasn't acting like the Jacob I knew. It was like he thought he could hve anything he wanted, starting with me. That night...he took something away from me that I can never get back when he forced himself on me...before he left he told me if I ever told anyone, I would regret it...I hadn't heard from him much after that. I stopped going to family dinners at his place...I just became disconnected, so empty that I resorted to stupid things," she said as she reached to one of her wristands and took it off. Edward didn't expect to see what he saw there...he thought it was a fashion statement, not something to cover up her scars. "That day at school he contacted me again..he's back to continue what he already started...he's been threatening me with messages saying I'll be sorry because I wasn't home last night..saying he'll find me no matter where I hide...I am terrifeid Edward," the tears she had been trying to fight off had overtaken her. Edward sat, as calmly as he could, trying to comfort her.

"I'm here Bella," he told her as he held her in his arms. After some time passed and she settled down, she pulled away to look at his face, hoping to see what he was thinking after hearing all of this.

"Now you know...everything,"she said as she looked down. He had been holding the hand which was free of the wristband, waiting to see how he would react towards it. "I understand if you don't want to be with me...I know I'm damaged in more ways than one..." He scoffed under his breath; he couldn't believe she would think she could scare him off this way. To her surprise, Edward brought her scarred wrist up to his lips and gently placed kissing on the already healed and almost faint scars.

"Bella...all of this, it's not scaring me away. I meant what I said when i wanted to be with you, no matter what..on your terms. You've been through so much; I just don't want to lose you,"he told her. "And as for this," he pointed to her wrists. "Please, don't hurt yourself anymore. That Jacob is not worth this pain. If you ever feel hurt, scared, empty..anything, just talk to me instead of doing this to yourself.." she nodded her head, though she hadn't done anything so rash in over a year. "Don't worry about him getting to you, I will keep you safe...There's five of us and one of him..he doesn't stand a chance..."he comforted her. This surprised him; five would mean everybody, not counting his parents of course and she didn't expect them to want to help keep her safe. This wasn't their battle to fight. A soft shuffling came from behind where they had originally entered from which caused Bella to jump up, paranoid that a certain person had followed her there and listened to everything she sensed her uneasiness and wrapped his arms around her to keep her safe. She allowed herself to sink into his embrace; feeling completely safe with him.

"Thank you Edward...for being so understanding with all of this,"she said as she looked up at him. He smiled at her.

"Bella...if I asked you to be my girlfriend..would that be pushing things a little too far?" He asked, nervous as to how she would take the news. She smiled at him and quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course I will," she said, surprised at her own words of acceptance. Didn't she spend so much time wanting to keep her feelings for Edward locked up to keep him safe? Once again, her resolve was weaken by the intense attraction she and Edward shared though like he said, it'd all be at her own pace and just like she promised herself, she was going to slowly pull her life together. She was glad to know she had Edward; she never dreamed that anyone would want to be with her after they knew about her past, yet here Edward was. Completely aware of it all and he wasn't running away.

The shuffling noise did not continue for much longer. As a result, the two sat there, holding each other paying no mind to the wind rattling the leaves. Little did they know, they had an unexpected visitor with them that night...

**A/N: read and review; you can ask me any questions you have about the story and if you review it, I'll answer them right away! I look forward to your thoughts!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 9

EPOV

The visitor had been fairly successful in remaining consealed from sight. Aside from the minor shuffling of the leaves, they went unnoticed which was good. It was part of the plan; a plan that was now being formulated and more advanced that an original one because now, even more factors were involved. Factors that should not have been involved at all; it ws simply a matter of finding the perfect time to strike. In the mean time...planting fear seemed the best option for the visitor, even though they had already left their mark. Neither Edward nor Bella were ready to go back inside the Cullen house; leaving the car and going in would officially bring the night to a complete end. It was too perfect to allow that to happen so for the passed half hour, the two sat in Edward's car avoidng the inevitable. The night had turned out better than Edward had planned, given the exception of his new need to hurt Jacob Black beyond repair. He decided, however, to not let himself get too carried away with his thoughts while the night was still young. Bella was his top priority.

"Edward..do we really have to go inside?" Bella complained though it made him laugh. She had read his mind, if that were even possible. Edward had his arms lightly draped around Bella's shoulder; it seemed ever since she told him everything about her past, her comfort level around him increased. She would no longer stiffen at his touch;instead she welcomed it.

"Unfortunately, we do," he told her, equally disappointed.

"I'm not looking forward to being bombarded by Alice to find out the details of the night..."Bella said; she knew how bad Alice would be too. She wouldn't hear the end of it. Edward couldn't help but laugh. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Alice was someone not to mess with when she wanted something. Suddenly, Edward was overcome with an idea..something that would buy them some extra time.

"Yes, dealing with Alice doesn't sound hopeful and I'm related to her," he chuckled. "I have an idea though...if you're not too tired?" Edward looking into Bella's eyes with longing. He wanted so badly to have more time with her; the thought of not being near her was a notion he never wanted to deal with again.

"I don't sleep much, remember?" She said to him with a smile on her face; for the first time happy that her insomnia was working to her favor. And after succombing to sleep the other night, followed by that nightmare, she was in no rush to even try a second night in a row. "What'd you have in mind?" She asked, unable to control the excitement that was now building. Having more time with Edward; more time to feel for the first time like she didn't need to watch her back was such a relief.

"Well, if I know Alice and Emmett...both Jasper and Rosalie are still in the house; we could pick a movie and all lay down in the living room and watch together; they'll get too consumed with the movie and each other that it would be almost as though they weren't there..."he offered. He knew that this would allow them more time together without being bombarded by questions. Bella couldn't help but smile at the idea. She had thought tonight would be over quickly and Alice would be back to keeping Bella all to herself; she couldn't allow that to happen as often...he was, afterall, her boyfriend.

"That sounds perfect!" Bella told him, unable to surpress her excitment; her own behavior was starting to surprise her. It wasn't like her to be this happy; it had been a very long time. Surprisingly though, it wasn't scaring her at all. It was Edward; being this way with him was easy for her. Almost as easy as breathing which told her she had made the right decision. After agreeing to get everyone together for a late night movie, Edward made his way out of his car and over to Bella's side to help her get out. They walked, slowly hand in hand before Edward pulled Bella to a stop in front of the door; his last chance of the night of having her all to himself. She looked up at him, questioningly but he simply smiled. Caustiously-in order to make sure she was not startled by his actions-he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, not wanting to make Bella feel uncomfortable; this was, afterall, new to her. Bella was unable to hide the smile this simple gesture put on her face. They remained standing outside the door for several minutes; time seemed to once again slip away from them causing them to realize that at some point, they would have to go inside. The more time passed, the smaller the gap between them became. Bella was ready to kiss Edward again; she had no doubt in her mind. Just as Edward's lips touched Bella's the front door opened, ruining a perfectly good moment.

"There you are!" Alice exclaimed aloud, unable to hide her excitement. Opening the door to the two kissing gave her the indication that the night went perfectly well. Bella and Edward glanced over at Alice, both unable to hide their annoyance at her rude interruption.

"Alice, you have bad timing," Edward started. "Did anyone ever tell you that?" She simply ingored him and continued on her little rant.

"I've been waiting for you two to get back! How was it? I want all the details! Where'd you go? What'd you do?" The sound of someone clearing their throat from behind stopped Alice but this did not make her happy.

"Alice, why don't you let them come inside before you bombard them with your questions," Jasper told her, trying to hide the tension in his voice. Everyone but Edward was fooled by it. Bella and Edward walked into the house hand in hand;Edward's eyes immediately went towards Jasper, trying to figure out is everything was alright. Jasper looked concerned, frustrated and slightly on edge; as though something had happened and he wasn't sure what he should do about it.

"Ok, now they're inside," She said to Jasper and turned back to Edward and Bella. "Now you two can start talking!" She jumped up and down, unable to resist clapping her hands in all of her excitement.

"Alice," he began. "How about we go into detail later about the date...for now, we have an offer for everyone. Are Emmett and Rosalie here?" He asked and right on cue, the two stepped into the corridor at the sound of their names. Edward noticed Emmett wore a similar look as Jasper; he was going to figure out what had gone on. He was sure it was just a disagreement between the couples, nothing more.

"Somebody call our names?"Emmett asked, porrly masking the tension that had already been in the house prior to Edward and Bella's arrival.

"Yea, that'd be me," Edward started as he stared back and forth between Jasper and Emmett. He couldn't get the thought that something wasn't right out of his head. Because of this feeling, Edward was determined to ask them what happened...if something had. "Bella and I were just wondering you everyone here was up for a late night movie?" The unthinkable happened; Alice, who was dead set on knowing every detail about the date, brought all of her attention on her new excitement of a late night movie. She had been wanting to get everyone together for a late night movie for a while, yet something always came up. Now, in this moment, the opportunity had finally presented itself and the only thing that bothered her was that it was Edward's idea and not hers. She was jumping up and down, clapping her hands while everyone just stared at her, unable to surpress their laughter.

"I guess that's Alice's way of saying she's in," Jasper laughed.

"Good idea Eddie," Emmett teased with the nickname Edward hated so much. Yet Edward's thoughts had been on figuring out on what Emmett and Jasper were hiding; not on Emmett's insistance on calling Edward by the nickname he hated. Edward's eyes narrowed on Emmett, as though he would be able to hear his thoughts and depict what the two were hiding. Clearly that was not the case and Edward was unsuccessful. Emmett did not give in to dropping his mask though he was patiently waiting until the girls were finally upstairs.

"How about we think about what movie we watch and us girls will go change into our pj's," Alice exclaimed as she took hold of Bella's and Rosalie's hands and started pulling them to get them to start moving up the stairs before anyone could object. She turned back to look at Edward, Jasper and Emmett. "You guys may want to do the same." She instructed and continued her way with Bella and Rosalie up the stairs. Edward saw this as the perfect opportunity to talk to Jasper and Emmett, who were apparently thinking the same.

"Edward, we need to talk to you...somewhere private," Jasper told him, finally taking a tone of severity. Edward nodded and followed his brother and best friend out on the balcony, knowing the girls would not hear them.

"What happened?" Edward said the moment they closed the door of the balcony. Emmett and Jasper looked back and forth at eachother before answering the question. After some silence, Emmett spoke first.

"It may be nothing Edward but...I wouldn't want to take that risk," Emmett started. "When you and Bella first left, Rose and I followed behind; we had ordered in and were going to pick it up. When we were pulling out of the driveway...I noticed a motorcycle appear from around the corner. I thought nothing of it..but it seemed to turn in your direction, which happened to be the same one I was headed it. Any turn you seemed to make, it made...as though it was following close behind," Emmett paused, looking at Edward wondering if he had caught on to his point. He looked confused. "Like I said...I didn't think much of it but then I remembered that creep from the other day...who happened to have the same motorcycle as whoever was on the bike that was following you tonight...you don't think he figured out Bella was here?"

Edward took a seat in the chair, trying to process what he had just heard. It made sense now that he knew the truth about Bella's past; if Bella was right and Jacob was capable of finding her anywhere that she was then the person on the motorcycle made sense to him. Another thought then occurred to him. While at the park, Bella and Edward had heard shuffling in the bushes but thought nothing of it. They thought it was the wind. But if Emmett was right...and Jacob had been following them the entire night, then it was accurate to assume that Jacob had overheard the entire conversation. He would now know that Bella confessed his crime to not only him, but to Alice as well. This was not looking good, at all. But how could he find her?

"You know...after everything Bella told me tonight, I would not underestimate what Jacob is capable of," Edward told them. "If that was him, it would explain the shuffling noises Bella and I heard when we were in the park. We thought it was the wind but if we were followed tonight, then the noises we heard were most likely Jacob. If that's true, we have an even bigger problem than we had originally thought," Edward put his head in his hands, pain overcoming him as he thought of the worst that could come of this. He needed to find a way to protect Bella at all times; he needed to find a way to tell her about this new information and somehow, some way he had to try to convince Bella to go to the authorities. He knew why she couldn't and with all the time that has gone by, there was no evidence of the crime he committed. But harrassment is serious and she has the proof of that; something needed to be done. He would need to think about all of this and talk to her but no matter what, he would not push her to tell anyone if she thought it best not to, despite his opinion on the situation.

"So it most likely was him," Emmett said in almost a whisper, more directing it to himself.

"I'm convinced he was, which means we're in over our heads. We can't leave Bella alone for one minute...and be on the lookout for Alice as well," Edward informed them. Jasper's head automatically shot up.

"Alice? Why? What's going on Edward?" Jasper's voice was full of concern. He knew they needed to protect Bella from Jacob but Alice, too?

"I can't tell you the information Bella entrusted me with tonight...it's not my place to tell. But, I can tell you that we were right about Jacob's character; he's bad news. He had told her not to tell anyone about what happened between or she'd regret it," Edward said, trying to not give away all of Bella's personal information. "If it was him, he over heard her tell me all of it tonight and over heard her tell me Alice knew..."

No one said a word. Just tried to process everything; what was going on, what would happen, what could happen; trying to find solutions. They would protect the girls; they'd protect the family but they all knew if Jacob was able to find Bella no matter where she was, at any given time of day, then they'd have to do better than what they could come up with. Before anyone could say anything, a light tapping came from the door of the balcony; the faint noise seemed to startle them but quickly became at ease when they noticed a very hesistant Bella standing on the other side of the door. Edward stood up from the chair and opened the door, taking her into his arms, not wanting to let go. She slightly pulled back to look in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked, obviously not fooled by the fake smile he was giving shook his head slightly.

"Let's not worry about it tonight," he told her. "let's put a movie in and enjoy the rest of our evening.." his eyes pleaded with her. He didn't want to keep anyting from her. He simply wanted to make sure she was safe and did not push her back into the shell she was in before she felt comfortable enough to let him in. He wanted to protect her.

"Promise we'll talk about it later?" she asked of him and he simply couldn't deny her what she wanted. He was going to tell her later either way; but ruining a night like this was not what he wanted to do.

"Of course," he promised. She smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek; well aware of the crowd around her. Emmett and Jasper were still on the balcony while Rosalie and Alice were now waiting in the living room.

"What's taking so long?" Rosalie asked, annoyance in her voice. Everyone instantly rushed into the house, closing the balcony door behind them.

"Nothing, let's pick a movie," Emmett said as he moved over the the DVD collection. It didn't take long to pick a movie; everyone was in the mood for a comedy and instantly picked the movie: It's a Boy/Girl Thing.

"I've never even heard of this!" Emmett complained, unhappy that the movie he wanted (Cop Out) was not voted for at all. "Why can't we watch something else?"

"Because you've already seen Cop Out twenty times..it's getting old Emmett," Alice told him, not caring too much about his disappointment.

"Emmett...what does it even matter, you like comedies no matter what the name of the movie is," Rosalie said to him. "Besides, do you really plan on watching the entire movie?" She put emphasis on the word 'watching'; it only took him a few seconds longer than it should have for him to catch on to what she meant. Once he did, he quickly stopped complaining about the movie choice.

"Alright," he clapped his hands together once, ready for the movie. "Let's get this started!" Everyone laughed at how quickly and easy it was for Rose to get Emmett to stop complaining. As the movie began, all Edward could think of was the conversation he had had with Jasper and Emmett. He was fully aware of Bella as he held her in her arms and the more he thought of the danger she was in, the more the urge to hold her tighter grew. It was the only way he knew she was safe but he knew she may become uncomfortable if his hold on her tightened. This entire situation was not what he expected and he couldn't help but blame himself. How could he not be more aware of their surroundings? He should have known Jacob was following them! It was irresponsible of him not to have known. What would Bella do once he told her what he found out? Would she blame him? Would she end it before they really developed their relationship which had the potential to be something great? He had to talk to Bella, but when was the best time? Tomorrow morning, Bella would finally be heading home with Alice spending the night...he couldn't protect her there during the night. He may not be able to be there but first thing in the morning, he would pick them both up and take them to school; this would become the new routine. If needed, Emmett and Jasper would follow him to Bella's with Rosalie in Emmett's jeep. Edward had a lot to figure out, he just hoped he would be able to do it and Bella would not leave him.

**A/N: hey all...read and review :) **

**-if you have questions, feel free to ask!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 10

Bella had difficulty falling asleep that night after the movie, not because of her fear of having nightmares, but because for the first time, she didn't want to let go of such an amazing night she had with Edward. Granted there were times she felt the need to break apart-like the time she confessed her past to Edward-but those times seemed to only make her stronger. She had told him and she got through it with Edward still in her life. He wasn't running away and that surprised Bella more than anything else. This was the first night she had actually wanted to fall asleep; the first night she wasn't going to bed with fear. Edward was her boyfriend now, something she definitely never imagined happening in her life, not after what Jacob did. But even when her life wasn't messed up, she never dreamed that Edward would want to be with her. With her thougths swimming around Edward, she slowed drifted off to sleep, anticipating a good night's sleep for the first time in years.

-When she opened her eyes, she found herself back at the park where Edward and Bella had been during their date. What was different this time, was she was not in the gazebo with him but she was merely a visitor; almost like a voyer on her own date. She could see herself with Edward's arms around her, keeping her safe from the noises that had been coming from the bush. This perspective gave her the chance to take int he scenary; afterall, she had lived through this date. She knew what was going on with her and Edward. The noises behind that bush had caught her attention, even when she was actually there earlier in the night. They had assumed it was the wind but now, she could see for herself what was causing the ruffling noises. It couldn't have been the wind, Bella thought. She made her way around the gazebo, taking a slight glance over at herself with Edward; surprised at how happy she looked with him. It put a smile on her face to see herself feeling so alive. Another ruffling noise came from behind the bushes and instantly caught Bella's attention once again. She continued her pursuit in its direction, the curiosity taking the best of her. When she turned the corner, she was surprised and taken back by what she had seen. It had been Jacob. He stood there, crouched over, not noticing Bella staring at him which made her more aware that she was a simple bystander. She watched him as anger crept over his face over the scene unfolding before him...as he heard every word that was said. Realization took over Bella; Jacob had been there. He heard her...-

Bella shot up from the bed; the realization she had in her dream had caused her to wake up and for that she was thankful. She couldn't believe what her dream had showed her; it couldn't be real. It had to be a dream. But what if it wasn't just a dream? Bella thought. She couldn't imagine what would happen if Jacob knew others knew about what he did. What surprised her the most was the feeling which followed her concern;for so long she feared confessing his crime not knowing what he would be capable of. However, instead of being scared...she felt quite the oppsite. She sat there, anger taking over her. She was tired of Jacob having so much control over her life. This was unacceptable. She wasn't going to sit back and let Jacob hurt the people she cared about; he wouldn't let him hurt her anymore than he already had. With her determination, Bella quietly got up and put her bags together. She was going to go home and deal with this before anyone else could get hurt. Thankfully, everyone was still asleep so she wouldn't have to make excuses for her sudden exit. She took a two pieces of paper and addressed them to Alice and to Edward. She knew she would still see them at school, taking into consideration that nothing bad happened when she would finally deal with Jacob. She left both notes on Alice's nightstand and headed out the bedroom door as quietly as she could, having everything she needed. She quietly headed down the stairs..noticing a faint light shining from somone's bedroom, remembering it had been the same room Edward had been in earlier. Bella realized there was a fairly big chance that Edward was awake, which meant she needed to be extra quiet as she made it to the front door. Before reaching for the door knob, something else hit her. If Jacob really did follow her last night during her date with Edward, then he must know she was at the house in that moment. There was a chance he was somewhere near by; waiting for his chance to strike again. Bella took out her cell phone, ready to test her theory of him being near by and went back into one of his previous threatening messages and hit respond.

-I know you've been following me Jacob...but you're getting sloppy...you never even saw me leave the Cullen house.-She hit send and looked out the window-making sure she wasn't noticed-and waited to see if she would see anything which proved her suspicions to be correct. A minute later, she noticed headlights turn on from the corner, not too far from the house and a motorcycle take off in the opposite direction. .The bike looked just like Jacob's...could he really have been there the entire time? Just the thought of him being there, watching over Edward's house made her angry. Despite her anger, Bella managed to keep a level head. Bella was thankful she had parked her truck in the Cullen's garage, otherwise Jacob would have never believed her message. Now she just needed to figure out how she was going to get home without risking running into Jacob, who was probably on his way to Bella's house to stalk her there.

"Bella?" An unexpected voice startled Bella as she stood looking out the window. She turned around to find Rosalie standing there with a confused look on her face.

"Hey Rosalie...what are you doing up?" Bella asked, trying to play off the situation and avoid her questions.

"Couldn't sleep...and you? Where are you going?" Rosalie looked at Bella suspiciously.

"My dad messaged me asking me to head home...my truck won't start though, so I'm trying to figure out how to get back," Bella told her, hoping that maybe, just maybe Rosalie wouldn't be too against taking her back.

"Well I can't sleep anyway, I'll take you," Rosalie told her and quickly headed up the stairs to get her keys. After a minute, Rosalie was back and opening the door to get to her car. Bella was cautious the entire time the two made their way to Rosalie's car. Instinctively, Bella crouched down in the seat, making sure she could not be seen; Rosalie just tried to ignore Bella's wierd behavior which was something she was used to doing.

When they finally reached Bella's street, follwing the directions Bella had been giving Rosalie, she noticed the motorcycle parked nearby...Jacob sitting on it glaring at Bella's house.

"Rose, stop here for a second?" Bella asked her and she did as she was asked. The sooner Bella was out of the car, the happier Rosalie would be. She still hadn't taken much liking to Bella as she thought the bet was still in play and Bella was clearly not important. Bella took her phone out once again and went to sent Jacob another message. She needed to buy herself some time to get ready to face him.

-Silly Jacob...thinking I would really go to the one place it'd be easy for you to find me...you're really losing your touch-She sent him the mocking message and watched as within an instant, he was taking his phone out to view the incoming text message. Bella sat and watched as the fury spread across Jacob's face. He revved his engine, and took off. He passed Rosalie's car without any glances in their direction which gave Bella a sense of relief. She was able to successfully buy herself extra time before facing him. In that time, she needed to find a way to prove what Jacob did to her and finally get her life back. No more worries about Jacob hurting her or anyone else she cared about. However, with all the time that went by, she couldn't prove his crime; there was no evidence. Just Bella's word against Jacob's who was good at manipulating everyone. The only person to give her the advice she needed was her father, who of course was not wasn't surprised though.

"I'm house is just two doors down on the left..." Bella told Rosalie who instantly started the movement again, annoyed that Bella had made her stop for nothing.

"Well, here you are." Rosalie said as she parked in Bella's driveway. Not a second later, Bella was rushing out of the car and running towards her door, shouting thank you to Rosalie for the ride. This obviously annoyed Rosalie even more than being stuck in a car with Bella. she drove back to the Cullen house anry and not in the mood to talk to anyone about Bella as the main topic.

When Bella was inside, she locked the door behind her, baracading it and every other entrance possible. She then made sure all the windows were locked and curtains were blocking any exposure into the house itself so that Jacob could not peep around. The next step was to check her room; in case he was already inside waiting for her like in her dream; then Charlie's room, bathroom, kitchen the office and laundry room. Once every possible area was double checked, Bella grabbed her cell phone and went into the laundry room-the one room she felt as though she could be safe in from being seen or heard-and called Charlie.

"Chief Swan." Charlie answered; he had answered his phone on the first ring. This made Bella think he wasn't as busy at the station as he always made it seem. Afterall, it was extremely late in the night and probably could be home protecting his daughter. But instead, he stayed far enough away from her.

"Hey dad..." Bella said, trying not to give any indication to something being wrong.

"Bella?' Charlie was confused. Bella never called him, especially this late. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I couldn't sleep but I wanted to let you know I was back home..." she started. She wanted to continue but hesitated; unsure of how her dad would interpret the information she was seeking.

"That all?" He asked, not seeming too interested. He and Bella rarely spoke in the last few years. Things changed when she closed herself off from everyone else. Now she was regretting even more pushing her own father away.

"Not exactly...I was hoping to ask you something, if you're not too busy?"

"Alright, I'm all ears Bella," he told her, unable to hide his curiosity towards this new and unexpected communication.

"Ok, well I've been reading this book on mystery and I'm trying to figure out how people would prove someone committed a crime when there is no longer any evidence existing to support it and after waiting a while before reporting it..." Before she could continue, Charlie cut her off.

"Bells, can't you just keep reading in the book to see what they do to solve that problem?" he seemed annoyed, as though he had better things to do.

"Because I'm impatient and want to try to figure it out...would a confession be the best way?" Bella pursued. If she could get Jacob to confess...then no one can say she was lying after all this time.

"If there was no evidence what so ever and the report came in a long time after the crime was committed...your best bet would be a confession, if you can get one. There are other ways, but that's what I would go for.." he told her, eager for the conversation to be over.

"Ok thanks dad," she said and after that, their conversation ended. That had been the longest conversation she and Charlie had in the last few years. She knew she needed a confession out of Jacob...and the only way to keep record of it was with a tape recorder. Bella had two. She quickly went to her room to get them..she hid one in her room and hid the other in her pocket-making sure there was no way to tell it was there-so that she could make sure she got a confession no matter where it was...in her room or somewhere else, she was determined to get one out of him. Once she had everything where it needed to be, Bella sat down on the floor to take afew moments to herself. She was about to do something she may very well regret; she had no way of knowing if her plan would even work. But it had to happen and it had to happen tonight, before anyone at the Cullen house knew she left and came looking.

She thought of Charlie. She thought of the terrible place their relationship had been in over the years and it was all her fault. Of all the people to shut out, she should not have shut out her own father. He saw what was going on with her; he wanted to help. But because it was Jacob and because of Billy, his father, Bella couldn't bring herself to tell him. He'd probably deny Jacob being capable of doing such a thing. But tonight, she would prove Jacob is not the good guy everyone out there thinks he is.

She thought of Alice; of how sweet she had been to Bella when she didn't even know her. She thought of how close they had gotten over just a weekend; something that seemed impossible to Bella. She never knew she would be able to open up to anyone; the fear Jacob had caused and planted into her life had taken her over but Alice was part of giving Bella a new sense of control and freedom. No more hiding. She cared about Alice and would not allow for Alice to spend one moment alone with Bella with Jacob out there watching and waiting. It was too risky.

She then thought of Edward; her new boyfriend...someone who actually gave her a sense of comfort and security. It was so easy to just be with him. So easy to forget about all the troubles; which played such a big role in why Bella was able to tell him the truth about her past. Unfortunately, that conversation should not have been had at the park because now, because Bella wasn't being on the look out, Jacob most likely knew everything. All the more reason Bella needed to settle things with Jacob once and for all. She just hoped she would be able to keep this determination and courage flowing through her. Otherwise, things would not turn out the way it was meant to.

Holding on to that courage, she took her phone out and noticed a text message waiting for her. It was from the unknown number which proved, time and time again, to be Jacob.

-I will find you Isabella! Wherever you are hiding! I will find you!-she read. This only fueled Bella's anger and need to bring him to her location and settle this. Before answering, she took away the furniture she had used to block the front door; leaving it accessible for him but still kept it locked. Maybe he'd be dumb enough to break in, just adding to the proof that he came here in search of something. Once she moved it, she went to reply to his message.

-Come and get me Jacob Black!-she hit reply; a slight feeling of regretting quickly washing over her. She didn't want to feel this way; she needed to stay strong for herself. She made her way to her bedroom, where she would wait until he showed up, which she knew he would. Close to her bed, she had pieces of wood she found in the garage; Charlie had been working on building something only Bella had other ideas for the wood. If needed, she would use it to defend herself. She had planted a few pieces throughout different corners of the house, along with pepper spray she kept in her pocket. She knew things would not be simple once she saw him. He'd come on a mission; and she would fight him. Someone was going to get hurt tonight. Bella intended on getting a confession out of Jacob one way or another.

Ten minutes later, she heard the sound of a bike's engine turning off; she thought maybe Jacob was finally here. Next, Bella heard the sound of the front door trying to be opened. The intensity and force behind it picked up when Jacob noticed it had been locked; he knew she was there. When he realized he could not get in through the front door...he stopped trying to break through it. He moved around the house seeking entrance, only to become more and more frustrated at the realization that each access point for him was denied. Bella's phone went off, which made her jump as she had not expected to get anything.

-Bad move Isabella...things may have played out differently if you hadn't made it difficult for me to get in the house!-It read. She took his threats as more reason to give her strength; of course, she knew anything that happened from that point would not be easy for her. But she wouldn't give up without a fight. The next second, the power went out. Crap! Bella thought. She had forgotten to lock the doors in the garage, which led her to believe Jacob made his way to the power box. Bella had difficulty adjusting to the darkness but she knew where everything was and would use this to her advantage. She heard a door being kicked in and fall as it went off its hinges. Good, Bella thought. More evidence that he broke into her house. She stood by her bed, watching the door, waiting for Jacob to finally find her. She heard as the footsteps grew louder and louder as they came closer to her door until finally, they stopped. Her door knob was now being twisted frantically but Jacob could not get it open. Resorting to the way he had entered the house in the first place, He kicked the door down, splitting it in half but Bella refused to be scared by his agression. He stood in the door way, staring at her through the darkness with a smirk planted across his face. Bella made sure her recorder was on and taking in every word that was said without him noticing.

"You've been a very bad girl Isabella," He menaced and lingered in the doorway.

"So sorry to disappoint!" She said sarcastically; she held her stance when she noticed the small steps he began to take to get closer to her.

"I thought I warned you what would happen if you opened that big mouth of yours..."he started, shaking his head at her. "I guess last time wasn't enough for you..."

"You mean when you raped me Jacob?" Bella continued, not showing fear. She needed him to say the words. He laughed at her.

"You deserved everything that you got that night," He said as he looked down. A moment later, he looked up at her through his eye lashes, his face portraying a look of evil. "Just like you will deserve everything you get tonight."

"You really think raping me all over again will get you somewhere Jacob?" Bella said, standing her ground. Her attitude did not go unnoticed.

"Why call it that when you already know you are going to be apart of this...you might as well give in to me Isabella. It'll be easier for you...less painful, don't you think?" he teased, determined to break her. It was more fun for him to have her stand before him in fear.

"I will not give into anything. Admit what you did Jacob!"Bella demanded.

"Will that make you sleep better at night?" He teased her. "I don't need to admit anything Isabella..you forget, I take what I want, when I want it...you made it this way, now enjoy the consequence of the choices you made!" he scolded.

"I made it this way? We used to be friends Jacob. I didn't ruin it, you did by raping me!" She nearly shouted at him.

"It wouldn't have been rape if you had chosen me! You did this." Was all he said through his dark eyes. There it was, Bella realized. He had just admitted to it and she had the proof she needed.

"That's where you're wrong Jacob," Bella told him. "None of this was my fault. You just need to convince yourself that it is so you can sleep better at night. But you're forgetting something Jacob Black,"

"And what's that." He said through his teeth, now closer to Bella than he had been before.

"I know you better than you know yourself...and it eats away at you each night that all you ever were to me..was a friend. Nothing more. Nothing less. You think trying to convince me it was my fault that you raped me because what? I led you on and flirted with you? Well you're wrong," Bella said with confidence; more than she had expected to have. "The choices you made were your own Jacob and one of these days, you're not going to like the consequences!" Through the darkness Bella could see the anger painted across his face. She had hit a nerve and he knew on some level, that she was right. But Jacob was impulsive and was no longer a good guy. Bella noticed as his right hand went back and started moving forward towards her, just like in the dream. She seemed more ready for it now and just before he could punch her in the face, she ducked. Just like she was taught in self defense. Jacob wasn't used to this. He was used to throwing a punch and landing it; not having someone duck and have him miss. This only added to his fury. He swung again, only to have Bella duck more only this time, she remembered a technique she learned. She lundged her hand upward, palm faced toward Jacob and hit in the bridge of his nose. He called out in pain; Bella had used enough force to cause him to bleed. He held onto his nose and glared at her through the darkness.

This was his breaking point. His sudden move forward caught her off guard and he managed to get his hands around her, keeping hers at her sides. She struggled in his grasp, trying to break free but nothing she did seemed to work. Just like in her dream, he pulled his hand back and hit her across her face but she refused to call out in pain. She would not give him that satisfaction. He pushed her onto the bed, slowly approaching her and once again, like in her dream she noticed him motion to his belt. She refused to let this happen again. It was time to really fight, she thought. As he moved closer to her, she used her right leg to kick him. She had caught him in the perfect time; had she waited he would have been able to catch it and she wouldn't have been able to break free. Since she had the perfect time, she kicked him right near the groin. He grabbed onto the area where she had kicked him, tumbling over in pain, giving Bella the perfect opportunity to run for it.

She didn't waste another minute. She got what she wanted; his confression on tape. Now she needed to get out of their in one piece. Just as she reached her bedroom door, Jacob unexpectedly grabbed onto her foot, causing Bella to fall down, hitting the side of her face hard against the floor. She vaguely heard the sound of her phone falling out of her pocket; she was too focused on getting out of there and getting to Edward. With everything going on so quickly, she forced herself not to panic..to stay calm. She remembered one of the wooden boards she stocked into the rooms of the house and she happened to be close to the one she hid in hers. She reached for the board, forced herself up and turned to face Jacob who was slowly making his way toward her but still tumbled over in pain. She swung the wood back and hit him in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. As soon as he hit the ground, she ran out of the room, with the wood in her hands-she wasn't about to leave him with a potential weapon. Quickly and carefully as to avoid falling down the stairs she entered the living room.

Bella found her confidence slowly drifting; she was in way over her head. All lights were out. The phones were no longer working; he had cut the power lines and her cell phone was no longer within reach. She hid behind the couch, trying to keep her breathing steady and unheard. Her eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness which surrounded her. Bella was more aware of the stinging pain which came from where he hit her, unable to stop herself from regretting what she had chosen to do. She didn't know exactly how bad her injuries were; the hit from Jacob was nothing compared to how much hitting the floor hurt. But despite it all, she could not show weakness. She needed to get out of there. She thought she could win but was now thinking she was very wrong. She knew he had the upper hand now; she was no longer in control over what was happening. A sudden noise had startled her causing her to catch her breath and become fearful of what would happen once she let it out. Could he see her from where she hid?

So many thoughts had found themselves creeping into her mind as her time now seemed limited; she never in her life thought of him as the type to take another person's life. However, this was not the Jacob she knew. This was a monster on a mission. Nothing was standing in his way. She knew she had herself to blame at this point; she should have never tried to be so brave.

She heard as Jacob rushed downt he stairs, trying to find her. Footsteps now appeared from the far corner...they only seemed to be getting closer and closer to where she hid. Thinking she could get away, Bella slowly started to crawl to the other end from where she had originally been; an end that would bring her that much closer to an exit. She made her way across quietly and it was working. No sounds seemed to come from her movement. The only thing to be heard was the footsteps which still had been closer to her previous location. Suddenly from beneath her, the floor cracked and she stopped in her tracks; the footsteps stopped as well. Of course, her luck would have it that her escape would be heard. The footsteps changed their direction, though Bella could not tell anymore where they were headed which caused panic to increase. She needed to move and fast. But would she make it to the door in time? In that moment, she realized she didn't have her truck with her which made her feel stupid. Even though that was the only way she was able to buy herself time, it was now the one thing going against her. The only way to get out of there was Jacob's motorcycle. She had her moment that she could escape but she couldn't without the keys to Jacob's bike. Running wasn't an option; not only would she trip and fall continuously but it would also leave Jacob with the ability of chasing after her. She couldn't risk it. She took the pepper spray quietly out of her pocket and prepared herself to attack. The wooden board was also not to far behind. As the footsteps grew closer to Bella, she started her count down. One. Two. Three. On the third count she jumped out from her hiding place, able to see Jacob in all his fury, still bleeding. She stretched out her hand which held the pepper spray and pressed down hard. Jacob's screams followed as soon as the spray reached his eyes. His hands motioned to protect them but it was too late. The spray found its way and settled in his eyes, burning him, temporarily blinding him. She swung the wood again as though it was a bat, knocking him down trying to figure out which needed more of the attention. His eyes or his stomach. She continued spraying him as she approached his body and searched it for the keys. It didn't take her long to find them.

"This is for everything you've put me through!" She shouted and kicked him once more, just before she ran out her door, climbing on his bike and turning the key to start it. She checked her pocket to make sure the recorder was still there and it was. She hit stop and quickly played back to make sure the conversation successfully recorded and it did. Trying her best to keep balance on the bike, Bella took off towards Edward's house. She needed him there with her when she went to the station to drop off the recording. It was possible that she may need stitches for the cut that was now by her brow; a cut she had acquired when she hit the floor but didn't realize until she pulled away from her house. She left Jacob nearly unconscious on her living room floor, hopeful that the next time she would see him, if she had to, would be when he was getting arrested. Not only for sexual assault, but for everything else he managed to do within the passed few days. Just as Bella had predicted, Jacob woud not be enjoying the consequences of his actions.

Bella did as well as could be expected manuvering the motorcycle for someone who had never been on one before. She pulled up to the Cullen house in hopes that someone would be awake and she was right. A light shown through the kitchen but she couldn't see who it was. She walked up to the door, aware of how terrible she looked and knowing she would have to explain what happened, and knocked lightly on the door in case others were asleep. A minute later, someone was answering the door, it was Esme.

"Bella?" Esme looked at Bella unable to hide her surprise to see her standing outside on the front door step. Last thing she knew, Bella was supposed to upstairs asleep in the guest room.

"Mrs. Cullen...I didn't realize you would be back so soon," Bella said nervously. Edward had told her their parents left for a conference and were due back tonight, not early morning.

"Don't worry about that right now sweetie," Esme noticed the cut at the side of Bella's brow and her slightly shaken look; all thoughts of why Bella wasn't upstairs disappeared and her mind was now focused on helping Bella. "Come inside, we'll take a look at that cut..." Bella reluctantly stepped inside. She knew if she was in here, no one would dare come in and try to attack her with so many witnesses. Bella followed Esme into the living room, only to notice Carlisle sitting reading a book. As soon as he saw Bella, his book was placed on the table and he was at her side.

"What happened here?" He asked, examining her cut. "It looks like you may need stitches Bella..."

"It's a long story," was all she could say. Edward's parents didn't know about her past and Bella wasn't up for sharing the entire story with them. She just wanted to get that recording to the police and press charges against Jacob; finally.

"Bella it's your decision whether you want to tell us or not..but I do need to clean this cut up and stitch it," Carlisle started. "It's a matter of would you rather me do it here or at the hospital." Bella hated hospitals. If she could avoid them, she would.

"Here is better,"she responded quickly. He nodded his head and headed towards his office to get the proper equipment he would need, leaving Bella alone with Esme.

"Bella...who did this to you?" Esme asked her, trying to assure Bella that she could tell her anything. She was in a judgement free zone.

"I fell," Bella told her, which technically was true.

"Bella...I don't think all of your injuries would come from a fall," Esme looked sad, worried, angry. Bella didn't understand why though. "That bruise under your cheek bone looks deliberate." Bella looked surprised.

"There's a bruise?" She asked and rushed over the mirror and there it was. From the hit she had taken and the fall, her face had taken somewhat of a beating, literally. Most of the area beneath her cheekbone was bruised, not to mention the cut next to her eye brow. Her eye also seemed to be swelling. "Great!" she mumbled, frustrated at her appearance. She definitely couldn't hide any of this from anyone, not even Edward who would probably be furious that she went into such a dangerous situation alone.

"See...your reaciton alone tells me someone did this...you can tell me Bella," Esme took Bella's hands in hers. Bella could tell it was safe to tell Esme; what could Jacob do to her at this point.

"Cliff notes version?" Bella asked and Esme nodded in response, she wasn't trying to make Bella tell her anything she didn't want her to know. "A few years a go someone I was friends with...decided he could do whatever he wanted, no consequences and raped me one night he was over. He threatened me not to tell anyone and I hadn't heard much from him until a few days ago, when the threatening messages started and unexpected visits...he knew I told Alice and Edward everything...and I couldn't risk him hurting them. So I wanted to finally turn him in but couldn't without evidence," Bella took out the tape recorder and showed it to Esme. "So I staged a meeting at my house for him to come...secretly recording his confession but things got out of hand, obviously..." Instantly, Esme pulled Bella into a tight hug which didn't cause Bella to pull away; it was the opposite. Bella didn't have her own mother there for her; this type of bond she wished she had with her mother but having Esme in this moment, Bella felt happy and proud of what she went through.

"Where is he now?" Esme asked her.

"Passed out and bleeding on the living room floor at my house..."Bella shrugged her shoulders. Esme was speechless. She hadn't expected Bella to fight her attacker the way she did; she clearly was a strong girl.

"I'm a little confused though Bella...weren't you supposed to be upstairs sleeping?"

"Yea...I woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare and realized that Jacob had followed me and Edward on our date last night...I knew if that was the case then he'd heard me confess everything to Edward, so I figured it was time to stop running scared and face Jacob once and for all," Bella explained. Esme and Bella were interrupted by Carlisle who had returned with everything he needed. He took a seat beside Bella and got to work, warning her first of how the procedure would go. She didn't care what pain should would or wouldn't feel. She was just happy that she beat Jacob Black.

"We're going to have to call your father Bella...he's the chief isn't he?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes but there's no need; I stopped in to see if Edward would go down with me to the station for when I hand in the evidence on the tape," Bella explained. Esme, obviously understood instantly.

"Evidence?" Carlisle asked.

"Don't worry about it Carlisle," Esme assured him and he nodded his head knowing not to push.

"I'll go wake Edward...I'm sure he won't be too upset with me if I tell him you need him," Esme smiled at Bella and headed up the stairs. That was when Bella remembered the letters she wrote for both Alice and Edward.

"Esme?" Bella called after her, hoping she would trash them before either read them. The letters didn't matter now that she made it out of that situation in piece.

"I left two letters addressed to Alice and Edward on her nightstand...do you think you could trash them before they wake up?" she asked, hopefull. Esme smiled and nodded reassuringly and continued up the stairs. Bella was left alone with Carlisle in the living room, left to ponder over what had happened. She couldn't believe she beat Jacob Black. She couldn't believe she finally had the evidence which showed he did what he said he would pretend did not happen. Now she just had to deal with Edward's reaction towards her adventure, her father's reaction toward what Jacob did and not too long after, the reaction of everyone at school when they saw her face and once they saw her with Edward. This was going to be interesting...

**A/N: so he's the chapter...I look forward to your reviews!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer!**

Chapter 11

That night, Edward had had a difficult night's sleep. He couldn't remember any other night where he would awake constantly. He had concluded the reason behind his restlessness was the unsettling feeling that Jacob Black could easily get to Bella. Each time Edward would finally drift back to sleep, a new nightmare crept into his mind; all seeming to show one thing. Jacob getting Bella while Edward was no where in sight to protect her. This was becoming a fear of his. What if Jacob did try to get Bella and Edward wasn't there to protect her? What if even with the help of Jasper and Emmett, he would find her? What if Bella didn't trust him enough after all? She would never forgive him if he let anyting happen to her. Edward wasn't able to resist the need to fall back to sleep on final time which, just like the rest was cut short. This time, it was not cut short by a nightmare but because his mother had found her way to Edward's room to wake him with Alice slugging behind angrily.

"Edward?" Esme called to him, hoping he wouldn't be too angry with her for waking him and of course, for the news she was about to let him in on. After a few moments, Edward opened his eyes; he was unable to hide the annoyance which overcame him for being woken up. However, at the same time he was relieved his mother was saving him from yet another nightmare.

"What's going on? Is breakfast already on the table?" he asked, still groggy from his sleep. Edward still had not noticed Alice's angry stance as she stood at the doorway with her arms crossed.

"No, I'm afraid it's still too eary for breakfast," she looked at him apologetically. "I wouldn't have woken you if it wasn't important..." Edward sat up and rubbed his eyes, forcing himself to become more fully awake.

"OK," he started as he got out of his bed and walked over to his closet to grab a shirt seeing as he slept without one. He turned to face his mother once he was ready. "So what's going on?" She looked at him seriously for a moment before she could answer her son.

"I think you may want to take a seat Edward," she told him which instantly caused him to feel panic building within him. He knew based on her request something bad must have happened...why else was she recommending him to sit? Instantly, he took a seat on his bed and anxiously awaited to hear the news. "Ok, where to begin..." Esme's mind was filled with so many scenarios of how to approach this matter but knew she had to be quick. Bella needed Edward and Esme needed to make sure Bella was as comfortable and safe as possible.

"Please tell me before I assume the worst, mom..." he pleaded, already filling his head with terrible thoughts, worried that someone in the family may be seriously hurt. His father? His sister? Emmett? The suspence was getting the best of him.

"Alright...I think the first things you should know is that I know about Bella and her past," she began.

"How did you-?" he started but Esme placed her hand up for him to allow her to continue. He instantly closed him mouth and waited.

"I know you're wondering how and to answer that, it's from Bella herself. Of course she hadn't intentionally planned on telling me but with the condition I found her in, there was no denying it..." She watched Edward carefully as she tried to tell him about Bella's terrible night. He sat there, processing what he already heard and his mind wrapped around the words 'the condition I found her in'. This easily could have meant so many things. Could she have had a nightmare? Was she shaken up? Why didn't she wake me? he thought. None of these seemed to consider how injured she could be considering he did not know she left the house. "Edward...Bella wasn't in her room when your father and I came back from the trip, though I only learned this when she showed up knocking on our door...she saw the lights on. I'll let her explain to you what happened but you need to be prepared for when you see her..." Before Esme could continue Edward was already on his feet, heading towards his door to find Bella. "Edward wait," Esme insisted and he stopped reluctantly.

"I have to see her mom," he urged. It was important that he see Bella. He needed to know she was ok.

"Edward, listen to me before you run off," she told him. "Bella's has a pretty deep cut on her eyebrow and a pretty nasty bruise developing on her cheek. Carlisle's stitching her up as we speak...I'm not sure about any other injuries she obtained tonight but she's a bit shaken up and wants you with her."

"I can't believe this," he uttered under his breath though it didn't go unnoticed by his mother. "Why would she go off alone in the middle of the night? What was she thinking!" He could only assume she got too scared by their relationship and made a run for it. He knew it was too soon to ask her; he was stupid in thinking she would want and be ready to be with him. He couldn't believe how insensitive he was. It made him sick but this wasn't important to him right now. Not as much as going to Bella. He had to see that she was ok.

"Edward...be open minded when you speak with her," Esme encouraged. "She was trying to do what she thought was best for you and your sister, as silly as it seems. Go to her..." With that, Edward was down the stairs before his mother had a chance to even blink. She waited before she too followed his path down to tend to Bella. Edward walked into the living room to see the site of the girl he was inlove with being stitched by his father. The cut, from what he could see was worse than he had originally thought and the bruise was still developing though it already looked well developed. It almost made the shape of a hand...which only angered Edward more. Bella remained looking ahead of her, afraid any movement she made would mess Carlisle up in his stitch work. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Bella.." Edward called out and was sitting on his knees in front of her in an instant. She was afraid to look down at him...afraid of what he would think of her after what she had done tonight. She needed him to understand she was doing what was best though all Edward thought about was how Bella regretted saying yes to him. And oh was he wrong. It was the very opposite. Edward had given her a reason to want to start living again. He made her feel wanted when she thought she would never experience it once someone knew her past. Edward accepted her despite what happened to her and she loved him for it. Her only hesitation when he approached her was what he would think of her...she feard him being angry with her for what she chose to do while he allowed himself to become convinced she was too afraid to be with him.

Not too long after Edward came down to see Bella, Carlisle finished with Bella's stitches and excused himself to allow them to talk. This added to Bella's anxiety for now she had no choice but to speak with him. Edward, once again was the first to speak.

"Bella...look at you," he examinedher injuries with saddened eyes. He couldn't stand to see her this way. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" He looked at her arms to see if there were any other cuts he didn't about. All he found were some bruises but otherwise, not much other damage was done.

"Are you mad?" she asked, almost too quietly to hear. He looked at her with shock in his eyes.

"Yes," he started, instantly causing all of Bella's fears to feel as though they were confirmed. She thought she was doing what was best but as a result she could have messed everything up. She felt so guilty. "I'm mad at myself Bella." he confessed. She looked at him, clearly confused.

"Why would you be mad at yourself Edward? You've done nothing wrong..." she asked, desperately wanting to know the reason behind his anger.

"I'm angry with myself because this is my fault. I pushed you when you clearly weren't ready for this and because of me you ran," he placed his head in his hands feeling disgusted with himself. "I knew that creep was out there watching you..I found out tonight when you went to sleep from the guys...if I hadn't rushed you into this, you wouldn't have left and he wouldn't have followed and attacked you! It was him wasn't it?" He asked her though Bella was taken back by Edward's assumptions.

"Edward..."he looked up at her, surprised to see the tears forming in her eyes. "You think I ran away from the house because I wasn't ready to be in this relationship with you?" He nodded his head to confirm his thoughts. This hurt her more than what she had been through that night. She couldn't control as her tears began to spill over. "Edward..I didn't run away from the house. I don't regret saying yes because you're wrong. I was ready and I was ready because it's you. If you regret asking me...I guess I can understand that. Dealing with someone with a past like mine isn't the easiest thing...I'm sorry to burden you.." she stood up to head to the door feeling defeated. She knew he'd regret asking. She knew it was too good to be true but before she could even leave the living room Edward already had his hand locked with hers, keeping her from leaving. He turned her around, placing both hands on either side of her face and looked her deeply in the eye.

"Bella...you are not a burden. I do not regret anything...I just don't know why else you would leave the house in the middle of the night and without me knowing..."he tried wiping away her tears but only more followed. She wasn't a burden? He had no regrets? She needed to convince herself of this but it was harder than she thought.

"I wanted to explain that to you," she told him and he led her over to the couch but never let her go.

"Please do," he encouraged her to continue.

"I had a nightmare tonight...it led me to believe that Jacob was following us on our date and knew where I was and I realized if he had been there, he heard me confess the truth about him to you and he knew that I told Alice. You two would've been in danger and it was all my faultl. So I decided i was tired of running from him, always being afraid when he's near. I wanted to face him once and for all so I decided to stage a meeting to get his confession of what he did to me on tape...I assumed he'd be watching me so I snuck out without the truck. He didn' t know I left this place until I messaged him calling him out. I set up a trap at the house for him...and some things to use to defend myself if anything called for it. I also had a tape recorder on me and placed not too far away from where he stood. When I got the confession..it was time to get out of there and things got a little out of control..." She finished and watched Edward carefully for his reaction. The thought of her alone with him and the possibility to what could have happened to her angered him so much.

"Where is he now?" Edward asked, trying to keep his cool. He didn't want Bella thinking it was her he was angry with because he wasn't. He just wished she hadn't gone alone. He wished she talked to him about her spur of the moment plan...he could've helped her. Been there listening in case things got out of hand which apparently they had.

"The last time I checked he was passed out and bleeding on my floor," Bella told him. Edward was slightly surprised to hear this.

"What did you do to him?" Edward was curious.

"I let him experience a fraction of the hell he'd put me through over the years..it could've been worse for him," Bella told him, proud of herself for finally standing up to him. "I was hoping you'd do something for me..."

"Anything Bella," he answered, eager to know what she needed. He would give her anything as long as it made her happy.

"Will you go to the police station with me to report him...telling my dad about this isn't going to be the easiet for me," she looked at him with saddness in her eyes. She couldn't begin to imagine what her father would think of what Jacob did to her. The guy he welcomed into the house with open arms. The guy he pushed her to start talking to again after he did what he had to her. The same guy Charlie defended when Bella tried to tell him he wasn't good. He never wanted to listen. He had too much work on his hands and too big of a history with Jacob's father to forbid his son from being in Charlie's house.

"Of course Bella," Edward told her and hugged her, she needed to know he'd be there for her no matter what the situation. "I'll go get changed and we'll head right out..." She nodded and Edward quickly ran upstairs to hurry and change. He refused to waste any time. He wanted that creep locked up for good.

When they arrived at the station, Bella suddenly became overcome with anxiety. Edward could feel her stiffen under his embrace as he led her into the presinct. He could understand her reluctance to finally confess her attack...and of course understand her anxiety considering who she was going to report it to. They walked over to the officer sitting at the front desk as they walked in. She looked at Edward; he knew what she was silently asking him to do. She wasn't ready to say anything yet so Edward spoke to the officer for her.

"Can I help you?" The officer asked, not too interested in the two people standing before him. He didn't even look up from his paperwork.

"I would like to press charges against Jacob Black for the sexual assault and harrassment of Isabella Swan." He told the officer. The instant he heard Bella's name he looked up from his paperwork, completely taken back. He hadn't realized it was her who came into the station since he had been too consumed in his work rather than actually assissting them. Bella felt uncomfortable with the way the officer looked at her...she knew him too so it made it all the more worse.

"I'll get the chief for you Bella..."he told her and instantly was running towards Charlies office. Bella and Edward took a seat as he whispered to her that everything would be ok. The officer knocked on the chief's door urgently, knowing how seroius this would be. Especially since it's the chief's daughter who was involved.

"Come in." Charlie called out, not too happy with the disturbance.

"Chief, there's a situation," the officer started. "We've got to file charges for sexual assault and harrassment..." he tried to continue but Charlie cut him off.

"You know the procedure for these types of cases, get it started so we can catch the rapist and have him behind bars" Charlie wasn't much for talking to people over the last few years. He kept it simple and always to the point at work.

"Chief, I think you're going to want to handle this personally," he told him, causing Charlie to look at him quizzically.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, curious now more than before.

"The person filing these charges..."the officer started, though didn't know how to tell the chief that it was his own daughter.

"What about her?" Charlie asked...he was tired of the information being dragged out.

"It's your daughter sir," the officer said reluctantly. As soon as Charlie heard it was his daughter, he was out of his chair and out the door to see his daughter. When Bella and Edward saw her father run out of his office to go to her, they stood, ready for what was to come. Her father stood there, taking in his daughter's appearance. He took in the stitched up cut on her eyebrow, the bruise that was now blackening on her cheek and of course he took in the strange boy who had his arms around his daugther.

"Bella...what happened?" Charlie demanded.

"Sir, I dont mean to speak for your daughter but perhaps this should be taken somewhere more private," Edward interceded before Bella could speak; she was thankful he did this. "This isn't easy for Bella and I wouldn't want her to be more uncomfortable than she already is." Charlie glared at Edward and looked him up and down. How dare he speak to him that way...was Charlie's thoughts. Edward didn't care though. His first priority was Bella's safety and comfort and this situation was something that was not to be taken lightly.

"And who are you?" Charlie asked, no more of demanded.

"Sorry, my name's Edward Cullen sir," Edward stretched his available hand out to shake Charlie's hand which he did reluctantly.

"He's my boyfriend," Bella told him, though she was more concerned about how he would react once he learned Jacob raped her and tried to repeat history tonight.

"I've never heard about this, why?" Charlie asked, now thinking Edward did something to hurt his daughter. He would not hesitate to lock Edward up if he had hurt her in any way.

"Because it just happened last night dad. I wasn't keeping it from you," Bella told him. His features softened for a moment, thankful his daughter wasn't keeping this a secret from him for a long time. That would've hurt him despite knowing they were not exactly close. "That's not why I'm here though dad. I'm here to press charges." She purposely was not revealing Jacob's name out in the open. Charlie nodded, understanding why she came and led Edward and Bella to his office. Once everyone was seated, Charlie began to talk.

"First, I don't think it's a good idea for your boyfriend to be here for this Bella," he told her.

"I need him here so he stays," she answered, refusing to allow Edward to leave. She needed his support in this.

"Ok," Charlie said, not wanting to argue with her. "The officer said you were here to press charges of sexual assault and harrassment." He barely was able to get the words out. His little girl..raped...something he never in a million years imagined happening.

"Yes I am. I'm going to press charges against him. It's time." she said, feeling her confidence build.

"When did this occur?" He asked as he began to write everything down, trying hard not to let the situation affect him right now.

"I was raped four years ago today," she told him, his sudden stiffness didn't go unnoticed but she continued. "The harrassment started this week with menacing text messages claiming he would find me no matter where I would go, that he would pick up where he left off that night...he even followed me on my date with Edward. I have all the messages saved."

"Bella, was there...was there a rape kit done? Anything that would prove he raped you? You said it happened four years ago...why wait until now to report this? Why haven't you told me?" He couldn't believe he didn't know for four years! The exact time she started acting differently and they grew apart. She distanced herself from him, always afraid of what she would say. Now he understood and it broke his heart he wasn't good enough of a father to have seen the signs.

"He threatened me that if I told anyone I would regret it and anyone who knew would pay...I couldn't go to anyone," Bella tried to fight back the tears.

"Bells, without evidence we won't be able to get a warrant out for his arrest and press charges. We can get him for harrassment with the messages but to prove he raped you...that will be difficult..." he hated telling his daughter he rapist would not get charged for that crime. He wanted him to pay.

"That's where you're wrong. I have the confession on tape. We can get him for what he did to me!" Bella told him as she took the tape recorder out of her pocket.

"How did you get a confession Bella?" the thought of her alone with her rapist again angered Charlie...would she really put herself in that type of situation again?

"I knew he'd been following me and I was tired of running...I knew Edward and his sister wouldn't be safe because he had overheard me confess the truth so I set up a trap to get him to confess. I got it all on tape," she told him and felt Edward's grip tighten on her, wanting to make sure he knew she was really safe in his arms.

"And who is _he_?" Charlie asked, realizing Bella still had not told him the name. Why would she keep this detail out...how else was he supposed to arrest the monster that hurt his little girl?

"Jacob Black." She told him, no hesitation at all. She was ready to put this behind her and whether Charlie accepted it or not, it had to be known.

"It couldn't be." Charlie was in denial. It couldn't be Jacob...not him. Not after all the years of watching him grow up and being welcomed into his home with open arms. He couldn't believe it.

"Are you accusing your daughter of lying to you about her rapist Chief Swan?" Edward spoke up, furious that her own father would refuse to accept that someone he knew and welcomed with open arms could be as evil as he truly was. He was so blind to it and it infuriated Edward.

"What? Of course not!" Charlie countered. "Bells, are you sure? It couldn't be Jacob..." he was in denial. Bella expected as much. Instead of answering him, she rewound the tape and pressed play. As soon as Jacob's voice filled the room Charlie stiffened...he'd know the voice anywhere. "Where is he now!" Charlie fumed, angered more than Bella could have even imagined.

"Last I saw he was passed out and bleeding on our living room floor," Bella told him, feeling proud of herself for what she did.

"On our floor? Bella he attacked you tonight in our home?" Charlie couldn't believe it..it couldn't be true yet all the evidence was right in front of him.

"He attacked...I fought back," Bella told him. "You can even get him for breaking and entering..." Bella smiled though no one else seemed to be trying to make light of the situation.

"Bella, I'm going to get the warrant approved for his arrest and get everything you've told me on file. I'm going to get the other officer to take pictures of your face, we're adding physcial assault to the charges. Make sure you also tell him everything about the night he attacked you four years ago," Charlie told her. "We're going to get him for what he did to you Bells, I promise you." He stood and came around to hug her which she accepted openly. Something she hadn't done since she shut down completely. Edward and Bella spent several hours at the station getting everything on file: her confession of that night, of what happened this night, the messages he sent and the pictures of what he did to her tonight. Once everything was done, Edward was able to take Bella back to his place and were instructed by Charlie to wait for his call. They returned before anyone else woke up; they informed Esme about what happened at the station and once that was settled, Edward took Bella up to his room so they could relax. She had a rough night and didn't want her to think much about it. As they lay there, a thought crossed Edward's mind. How had Bella snuck out of the house without going unnoticed. He would've seen her walking to her house..

"Bella?" Edward asked. She looked up at him, waiting for his question. "How did you get to your place without him noticing you if you hadn't taken your truck?" She looked away, not wanting to get Rosalie into any trouble over the fact that she needed a ride.

"Edward...I don't want you getting mad about it, maybe it's best I not tell you," she told him though he encouraged her otherwise.

"I promise I won't get upset...I'm just curious how you got there and back..."he assured her.

"You promise not to get mad at how I got back to my place?" he nodded, promising that no matter what, he would not be upset.

"I was heading out, trying to find a way to get back unnoticed and then I saw Rosalie in her car...she reluctantly gave me a ride. She wasn't very friendly about it but she did," I told him...instantly seeing the anger build in his eyes. "And I took Jacob's bike to get back because I realized I didn't have my truck and running wasn't the best option for me."

"I can't believe she would agree to take you there...alone!"he fumed.

"Edward, you promised you wouldn't get upset and besides, it's not like she even knows about my past and Jacob..she didn't know I'd be in any danger Edward," I told him and even though he wasn't happy about it, he calmed down. He knew Bella was right. Rosalie hadn't known and if she had, she probably would have refused to let Bella out of her sight. Once Edward had calmed down from his realization of Rosalie's part in the night, the two just laid in his bed side by side trying to relax. Bella dreaded having to explain her appearance to everyone else in the house, especially those who didn't know her past. She feared Alice's reaction most of all, however. Alice would be furious knowing Bella left without telling her what she planned on doing. She didn't know Alice long at all personally but she knew enough not to upset her. A few hours later, Bella received a phone call which caused the two who had drifted off to sleep to wake up.

"Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Bella, it's me," Charlie answered her.

"Hi Dad.."

"Bella, we've got him. He was exactly where you said he'd be. We'll just need you to come in and confirm we've caught the right guy and it'll all be over. Once you can do that, we can get everything started and he'll be put away for a good amount of time. You won't have to worry about him anymore Bells," he told her. All she wanted to do was go to the station as fast as possible to get this all over with. There was no reason to wait any longer. She waited long enough.

"Dad...what are you going to tell Billy?" Bella asked, suddenly thinking about Jacob's dad. This would crush him.

"I'll talk to him once we have your confirmation but you may want to come in before he realizes he gets a phone call...he's still pretty out of it," he said. In fact, Jacob was so out of it that he found himself unable to control just how much information he let slip out of his mouth. It was easy getting a confession from him especially every detail of that night. The police even obtained a warrant to search his house and once Bella came in to confirm, that was exactly what they planned on doing.

"I'll see you soon Dad," Bella told im and with that they were off the phone. Bella turned to Edward to share the news with him and instantly the two were in his car on the way to the station once again. Bella didn't have to be in the same room as Jacob, thankfully. She simply had to identify him in a line up.

"Number 3." she said with confidence.

"Are you sure?" The officer asked, simply through procedure.

"Definitely. It's number 3." she responded and turned to hug Edward, relief washing over her that it would now be over.

"Let's get out of here," she told him as she looked into Edward's eyes. He nodded and escorted her back to his car and took her back to his house.

This time when they arrived, Alice, Esme and Carlisle were the ones awake. Alice was pacing back and forth in the living room, clearly unhappy about something. As soon as she saw Bella she ran up to her but stopped as soon as she saw Bella's face.

"How could you just go off on your own like that Bella! You knew the dangers of being out that with that creep on the loose!"she went off, causing Bella to hold onto Edward even tighter than before. She'd never seen this side of Alice.

"Alice, I was trying to make sure you and Edward wouldn't get her because of me. He was there...on our date. He heard everything, I'm sorry," Bella apologized, not meaning to worry Alice.

"Ugh, that creep followed you!" Alice went off, finding something new to ramble about. "He's so ridiculous..I swear, give me ten minutes alone in a room with him and he will never look at a woman the same way again!" Edward and Bella were unable to surpress their laughter towards Alice's rant. Though Bella didn't know just how serious Alice was when she said this.

"That won't be necessary Alice," Bella told her. Alice's face instantly fell as though she was disappointed.

"He deserves that and a whole lot worse Bella," Alice said as she crossed her arms.

"Yes but he's going to get exactly what he deserves now that he's been arrested. He has so many charges being brought against him now that he'll probably be in jail even longer than the rape charge would have given him," Bella informed her. Both Alice and Esme were surprised at the news but were thankful that he was behind bars.

"You turned him in? Bella I'm so proud of you!" Alice chirped and took Bella in for a big hug.

"Yea, I got a confession on tape and Edward and I went over to the station to press charges," she told her. "We just came from doing the line up. It's more or less over now."

"Oh Bella I"m so happy for you," Esme came over and gave Bella a hug. She definitely hadn't known Bella long but she already loved her. She was happy something so tragic in her life was now being settled, allowing her to move forward with her life.

"Morning everyone!" Emmett exclaimed as he charged down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen for breakfast. Even though he greeted everyone on his way down, he hadn't actually take the time to see who he was saying hello to. "What's for breakfast?" he called out from the kitchen.

"It hasn't been started yet!" Esme called back and started to head toward the kitchen shaking her head in disbelief.

"Fine," he huffed and made his way to the living room to watch TV. "I'll watch TV for now then." After ten minutes of watching TV, Emmett began flipping through the channels until he saw a picture on the news ofa familiar face. The face of the same creep that showed up at the school bothering Bella the other day. The same creep he and Jasper saw following Bella. The same one who potentially did something horrible to Bella but Edward wouldn't say what. It was Jacob Black. News had already spread, within hours, about the charges being brought up against him. "Guys, get in here!" Emmett called out. Instantly, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Edward and Bella came into the living room where Emmett sat on the edge of his seat listening to everything he had done to Bella. Not only had word spread fast about Jacob, but now everyone would know what happened to her.

"Oh no," Bella looked at the TV terrified. "It can't be on the news already!"

"Yea, they sure don't waste time in Forks!" Alice huffed under her breath.

"Now everyone's going to know," Bella panicked. "Edward what am I going to do?"

"Just ignore them Bella, don't let them get to you," Edward tried calming her down. "Besides, I'll be there for you."

"We all will Bells," Emmett stood up from the chair, not treating Bella any differently than he had when he first was formally introduced to her. He came over and took her in to one of his big bear hugs and spun her around. Though just as quickly as he picked her up, he put her down knowing she probably needed to ease her way into getting used to those types of hugs. He didn't want her to feel any discomfort. Bella stood there, despite being terrfied of how things would be at school, and for once felt like she shouldn't feel ashamed for what happened to her in the past. Only three people in the room originally knew about it and now two others were added to that mix and still, they accepted her for who she was. Her past did not define her. She would no longer let it. It was because of this she was able to calm down and prepare herself for the next day at school. Not only would she deal with glares for what was on the news but everyone would also see Bella with the most talked about...most wanted guy at the school. She was ready and she was going to bring a new fearless attitude to prove it.

**A/N: ok, it's been a while but I do hope it was worth the wait for everyone...what are your thoughts? let me know when you review! **


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